The Devil and the Diva
by Vergil Diva's chevalier
Summary: Takes place after Vergil loses to Dante at the end of DMC3. Vergil doesn't find Mundus in the demon world but someone else who died in the human world. Rated M for violence, some language and brief innuendo.
1. Cause

"Am I… being defeated?" Vergil asked in disbelief. Defeat hadn't even been a realistic concept to him until recently. However, that's what seemed to be happening to him. But why was he losing? In their first encounter Vergil had easily beaten Dante and in the second they were still fighting on even terms. So why was it that now, after having received his father's mightiest sword in addition to his that he _still _couldn't defeat Dante?

"What, is that all you've got?" Dante spoke down to him. Dante was actually speaking _down _to him!

"Come on. Get up. You can do better than that." Vergil's pain and ache was nothing compared to his determination now. He wasn't going to just fall down and die. He would get up and he would fight. Vergil shakily pushed himself up from the shallow water of the strange demonic cliff and turned back towards Dante. As Vergil did so, however, the whole area started to tremble. Dante seemed to notice it as well, but his gaze barely even faltered. He'd changed.

"The portal to the human world is closing, Dante. Because the amulets have been separated." Vergil stated while regaining his breath.

"Let's finish this Vergil. I have to stop you." He said solemnly. All of the brash, cocky attitude that he so often had was gone now.

"Even if that means killing you." Vergil's eyes widened just a bit. They had been fighting since they were young. But while the fighting grew more and more intense as time went on and they got stronger, there had always been an unspoken rule between the two of them that they hadn't even really thought of; one brother would not try to kill the other. Being half-demon, that didn't really mean that they went easy on each other. It was virtually impossible to kill them. When one of them, who had always been Dante before, was defeated the other one would allow them to heal. But then… Vergil had broken that "rule" himself on the roof of Temen-ni-gru. Though he hadn't killed Dante, the act of impaling him with his own sword after Dante had obviously been defeated was something that went against their unspoken agreement. Yet, he didn't think that this was Dante's way of getting back at him for having lost. There was resoluteness in Dante's gaze. Something that he remembered seeing before in…

"In Sparda." Vergil thought, fighting to actually compare Dante to their deceased father; the person that he had wanted to be like. No. The person who he had wanted to surpass.

What was is that Dante had gained in this experience that Vergil hadn't?

_"Dante walks the path of humans! So why is he winning when I should be so more powerful?" _Vergil thought, his head spinning. After thinking for a brief moment Vergil knew that it didn't matter. They had nothing more to talk about.

_"Instead…"_ Vergil thought as he raised Force Edge, their father's sword, and twisted it in the air before whipping it behind him, preparing to charge.

_"I'll show my beliefs through this last strike."_

Both of them were tired now. Though Vergil had clearly been exhausted more, Dante wasn't going to be running any marathons either. The next brother to strike a blow would be the victor.

There was a connection that most people couldn't make with fighting; it wasn't just some brainless activity as most people thought. At the very least, it wasn't restricted to that. If you could find the true meaning of fighting a whole new realm opened up. Fighting was a way of showing your beliefs. It takes a lot more resolve to take a punch to the face then an insult across the table. If you fought it showed that you were willing to risk your life for your beliefs. For the two of them, who had been around death and fighting their whole lives, this was more apparent than to the most seasoned war-veteran.

Dante barely moved, not preparing a stance. Whether it was because he couldn't or if he simply didn't want to was something Vergil couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. They ran towards each other, each holding a sword behind them as they did so. Time seemed to slow in order to allow them to enjoy these last few moments for all that they were. Then Vergil's foot stepped in a deeper area of water, causing a splash, and time came back to normal.

They attacked; the exchange too fast for a human to see, as they came to a stop on opposite sides from where they had been, still holding their swords up. Vergil waited a few seconds for the results and then knew them as he felt his stomach separate for a second, being held up only by his backbone. The wound healed itself, but expended the last of Vergil's energy as it did so. The final blow to his stamina made him start to fall forward and drop Force Edge in the process. He stuck a foot out in front of him to keep him from falling down into the water, but his amulet fell from his neck as he did so; as if abandoning him for his unwillingness to accept his defeat. But Vergil stooped to pick it up and then somehow forced himself to straighten up again. He turned towards Dante while taking a step back.

His twin, who had already sheathed Rebellion, his own sword, and turned towards him, now looking at him with the same resoluteness. The same strength. There was something else in them now though. There was just the slightest hint of pity in his eyes. Mentally sighing, Vergil thought of how pathetic this was for his younger twin to be looking at _him_ with pity.

"I must have lost more than I thought." Vergil thought solemnly while still taking steps away from Dante, and towards the edge of the cliff.

"No one can have this Dante." Vergil said with a shaky but determined voice.

"It's mine. It belongs to a son of Sparda." He grunted as one of his boots hit a rock at the edge and he had to force himself to keep from falling. Dante dashed towards him, knowing what he was planning to do. But Vergil put Yamato, his katana, in his path.

"Leave me and go. If you don't want to be trapped in the demon world. I'm staying." He spoke while starting to lean back.

"This place… was our father's home." Then he pushed himself backwards, starting to fall. Dante rushed towards him again, reaching for Vergil's wrist. But regardless of the reason, this was Vergil's decision. And he wasn't going to change it. The tip of Yamato cut into Dante's hand, as if one final taunt of how Vergil wasn't going to accept Dante's help. Then, he fell back into the abyss, staring up at Dante. As he fell deeper and deeper, finally losing sight of Dante, Vergil realized why he had lost to him and closed his eyes in acceptance.

Dante had found his cause, while Vergil had lost his.


	2. Demonic wasteland

His back hurt. That was the first thing Vergil noticed when he woke up.

Apparently, when he landed the impact had caused him to lose consciousness. This meant that a human probably would have been a broken mass of bones and flesh. Though his losing consciousness probably also meant that his body was too worn out to completely heal itself as he would usually just feel an immense pain as opposed to actually being "affected" by it.

In any case, he was stuck in the demonic world now. Strangely enough it didn't seem as he'd envisioned it. In fact, it didn't look any worse than some of the less-favorable human locations which he'd been to in the past. It was a desert, though the sand was brown as opposed to the usual tan color. It was also apparently nighttime here and a full moon seemed perfectly positioned in the sky to give everything an equal amount of light. There were rocks and changes in elevation of the sand here and there but it actually resembled more of a wasteland than an actual desert.

"A wasteland in hell hm? Who would have guessed?" Vergil thought in his head. Then he sighed lightly. It seemed that some of Dante's attitude had rubbed off on him. Still, while it certainly didn't look like the most interesting of places the looks could have been worse. It could be like that fiery pit that humans seemed to imagine "hell" as being.

"Hmph. 'Hell'; another pathetic creation of humans to control others." Pushing aside his hatred of the humans for a few unbearable moments, Vergil looked around.

Now that he thought about it, the worst part about this area was probably the fact that there was no one around. This wasn't usually something that bothered him particularly. He'd always preferred to be alone as opposed to having company, whether they be demon, human or anything in-between. But the absence of any demons when there should have been millions was unsettling.

It was for the best though. While Vergil could still easily destroy any demon that he came into contact with, in his current state fighting armies of them wasn't a very bright-looking situation. He was, after all, part human. Simply thinking the word made Vergil want to spit. But to succumb to his emotions so easily would lower him that much closer to those pathetic weaklings that had the ignorance to actually believe themselves a superior species.

After a quick look around, Vergil determined that there wasn't any shelter nearby. It wasn't necessary, but he preferred to have solid rock to lean against as opposed to some dead tree. He didn't have any allies here after all.

"Allies. Hmph." He didn't require allies. You can't trust anyone but yourself. People succumb to greed and fear, while demons are always trying to kill each other simply to rise a few ranks. The higher demons at least had the pride to fight amongst themselves. But the lower-level demons were all but brainless animals.

A feeling somewhat like humor crept into Vergil's mind then faded away when he compared the lower-level demons to humans.

The wasteland looked the same no matter which direction he looked in. After a while Vergil started to not even pay attention to the scenery. He just focused on walking.

The fatigue from his battle with Dante had taken it's toll on his stamina in the long-run and his vision was beginning to get just a little blurry. The weariness also started to make him feel chilled.

The coat and vest that he was wearing were good all-purpose clothes. The coat protected from minor to moderate cold conditions and also protected him from the wind, while the vest had no sleeves and allowed his body to let heat out if he was in a hot area.

But his current condition made it feel like he was wearing thin plastic clothes in a gale.

In fact, the wind had started to blow harder and harder in the past few minutes. It was unlikely that the demonic world worked the same way that the human world did, but if on the off chance it _did _have some similarities in the conditions then this seemed to be a windstorm of some kind; though it felt like he was just on the edge of it.

He straightened himself up and then started walking, with no small amount of effort, at a normal pace towards a direction that would hopefully provide him with something more than a dead tree for shelter.

"I'd actually prefer a demon army." Vergil said in a rare moment of complaint.

* * *

I know it was a bit short, but since Vergil is the only primary character at this point I make it a new chapter every time he skips into a different timeframe. (after he wakes up, when he's been travelling in the desert for a while, etc.) Reviews are appreciated.


	3. Shelter in the wasteland

This accursed desert was really starting to tax Vergil's nerves! He had to have been walking for at least half-an-hour and the scenery had barely changed at all!

On top of that, he quickly discovered that the windstorm was actually a _sandstorm_. So even if there _was _shelter nearby he would have to walk into it just to be aware of it's presence.

The worst part was that nothing had shown up.

Being frustrated and having nothing to destroy was bearable when he was rested, but in this weary condition he had actually considered running towards a rock and slicing it into pieces with Yamato at one point.

After a few more minutes of walking in what must have been the eye of the sandstorm, Vergil collided with something.

Because he had been walking slowly he just stepped back quickly and dropped into a stance to pull Yamato out of it's sheathe as opposed to falling backwards into the sand. But the sand was whipping at it and the whole thing seemed to be completely lifeless.

Vergil allowed himself to ease out of the combat stance but still kept his guard up. While something like this would probably mean safety in the human world this _wasn't _the human world. Flowers could turn out to be acid-spilling demon-pods, rabbits could end up being a colossal insect-like demon simply disguising itself and all the other things that humans would find "cute" undoubtedly had a very un-cute demon variety here.

But though he was still skeptical Vergil admitted that it seemed like the thing he had collided with was truly not alive. After feeling the thing with his fingertips he was able to determine that it was a stone of some kind. Or at least it felt like it.

The sandstorm seemed to follow him as he walked along the length of the thing. It appeared to be a wall of some kind. But with all this blasted sand flying around the place he couldn't accurately tell!

Then, as if on queue, the sandstorm resided. The winds ceased circling him and all of the sand that had been dancing around fell to the ground.

While his brother would probably say something along the lines of "About damn time" Vergil instead just examined the length of the revealed-to-be wall that he had been walking along.

It was a very tall wall. It obviously was not of natural origin, or at least not without some manner of influence from a higher demon. After taking a few steps back and looking up at it he could see parapets on the top. They were battlemented as well. The spiked protrusions that were spread evenly along the lengths of the wall were apparently the demon-equivalent of the rectangular blocks that humans used to put on their castles back in the medieval times.

Though the human versions were designed to actually be of practical use demon castles were more often simply a sign of power and status, as there were many demons that could simply fly over, dig under or simply crash through walls. Most likely, the spikes on the wall were meant more of something to impale your enemy on as opposed to something to keep you from falling off the wall.

His examination of the walls was brought to an end when he noticed the massive gate that was further down the wall. From what he could tell, the castle was simply a square-shaped wall encasing some kind of building; which meant that the demon who'd had it built was most likely not a high level demon.

He started walking towards the gate as he thought about how little it mattered. Even if it was Mundus himself he didn't care. Vergil hated being tired; it made him feel so weak and human.

The gate was closed but not unlocked. With an effort, Vergil managed to pull them apart, and then walked inside. But as he did so he noticed a strange sound. It sounded like an hourglass, but in reverse.

A quick glance behind him revealed that it was very much the case.

The sand outside the door was rising up and forming into shapes. At first there wasn't any particular feature that he noticed but the figures quickly filled out as more sand came up. At the end, when all the sand had formed, the shapes resembled worms of some kind.

The sand flashed and then the worms had actual slick, rubbery skin and a mouth full of needle-like teeth. Black beady eyes were inset deep in the thing's "face" and it even seemed to have small ears of some kind which resembled the flat side of bat ears, but pressed against their heads. The dozens of tiny legs on their bottom side made them seem more like centipedes than true worms.

One of them convulsed and then spat something at him. Vergil unsheathed Yamato and slashed downward while turning to face them.

The green spit was cut in half by his lightning-quick attack and flew past him. He heard it land with a sound similar to when someone's intestines fell out but heard a sizzling sound afterwards.

A quick glance behind him revealed that the stone floor of the castle was being dissolved by the acidic spit of the worm demons. He supposed that if it melted through rock it would probably melt through him as well, but there was no point in contemplating that any further as he would never allow himself be touched by such a low level demon's attacks.

He closed his eyes and sheathed Yamato and waited for their next attack. When he heard the things convulse again his wrist snapped Yamato out of it's sheath and slashed a horizontal path in the air, then turned away from the things.

Vergil cut the air with the blade to remove any spit that might still be on it, then dragged it along the sheathe and slid it in, snapping it in at the end. He heard the worm demons burst apart in a brief explosion of sand and then opened his eyes.

"I'm tired. Don't bother me again." He told them as if they could listen. However it seemed that his words angered something, because he heard the area outside the gate start shaking.

After looking back in the direction of the gate he realized that the sand was what was shaking. In fact, all of the sand that he could see outside the gate was trembling. Like when the worm demons were created. The piles of sand which the previous worm demons had become after dying formed together and once again shapes stated being filled in a reverse-hour-glass fashion. But this time the figures were being formed as far as he could see.

"I see. So that's how things as weak as you managed to survive. How pathetic." Their bodies were made of sand, so as long as sand was around they could regenerate.

As much as it upset Vergil to admit it, this was a problem. Killing the things was no problem. But if they kept coming back that meant he would never get the chance to rest.

He walked towards the gate and unsheathed Yamato again, dragging the tip along the rock inside the castle as he did so.

Now he knew why it was so important to have walls as tall as they were and to have a stone floor. The tall walls would keep the things from crawling inside, while the rock floor of the castle would keep them from forming inside the castle itself.

In any case, he would keep them from getting inside the castle until he could come up with a plan to stop them from coming inside. One of the things scuttled into the gateway; into death's doorway.

Yamato flicked upwards, separating the thing's "head" from the rest of it's disgusting body, then waved at it to blow it's now sand-like body back out into the horde of other demons. They all made a clicking sound, apparently upset that he'd "killed" one of their brethren.

"Be silent. You have many siblings left." Yamato switched to face down towards the stone.

"For now." They all attacked at the same time. A dozen of them scuttled into the gateway while the twenty-some others behind them spat their acidic spit at him.

He whipped Yamato in their direction, cutting the air and sending it in crescents through first the spit, then the dozen demons in the doorway, and then finally into the ones who had spat the acid.

Vergil continued to walk through the gateway while the hundreds of other worm demons made their way through the area that had been occupied by their fellow kind until recently. He slashed at anything that came into the gateway itself and created what was basically a shield of sword slashes which would kill, slice and then dismember anything that came even close to the gate.

However, with each slash he moved forward just a bit. It wasn't even a distance that could be measured in inches, but with how many slashes he kept performing Vergil was soon outside the gateway itself and fighting the hundreds of worm demons on three sides at once while trying to keep them from getting inside the fortress. Vergil had, he realized, made a mistake. The weariness must be affecting him more than he'd thought. Still, it wasn't a significant problem.

The demons on his side spat their acid at him and he hopped backwards into the gateway to avoid the damaging liquid. It all collided and remained in the air for a second before falling down. But the steam which had come off of it blocked his vision long enough for the demons that were in front of him to spit their own acid at him. He just barely managed to whip the disgusting liquid away before it reached him, but he had to spin in order to assure nothing got him.

While he was spinning though he noticed that the gate doors were still completely intact. The worm demons had definitely already spat acid past him in that direction before, and yet they didn't even show signs of erosion. That's when it hit him. Even if the walls were tall and the gates were closed, the demons should have just been able to dissolve them and then pass through.

"Unless the walls and the gate are made of a special material which is unaffected by the acidic qualities of the spit." He thought in conclusion.

On this note he turned away from the demons, swiping the sword while doing so to kill the ones that were attempting to come into the gateway. He sheathed Yamato as he reached for the gate doors and started to pull them closed. They were almost completely closed when Vergil saw the acid heading for his face.

Just barely managing to duck underneath it he quickly realized that these demons, though weak, were obviously working in an organized fashion. This was apparent when one of the worm demons, who had used the spit from another as cover, came through the doorway and tackled him with it's head.

He was tired, and the position that he had ducked into was an unstable one, so they both flew back away from the gate and landed on the stone. He pulled Yamato out and slashed through the thing's mouth and then the rest of it's "head", but didn't even have enough time to stand up before another ten of them landed on him and started biting him. In his current state there were too many of them to simply push off, and he couldn't raise Yamato as one of them was biting his arm.

His vision started to fade and he wondered if this was actually how it was going to end; being killed by a bunch of worms after having fought and survived against Dante. However, his body did not feel the way he did. Even as the things bit into his neck and chest it started to change. The skin turned blue, fusing with the coat, and became more solid. His face became more flat and his hair turned into a kind of crown. Then, he glared with yellow eyes which no longer had pupils or any other color in them. His analyzing and calculations were gone and his thinking was reduced to one word.

**"Crash"**

* * *

I know I didn't do a very good job at showing the transition from his human way of thinking to his demon way but I thought it would be kind of interesting if his demon form had a kind of different way of thinking. Reviews are, as before appreciated.(asked for. heh)


	4. Hellsinger

Vergil's body ached so badly he couldn't even open his eyelids as he woke up.

Thinking about the last thing he remembered; being held down by those disgusting worm creatures as they bit him, made him try to move. But after a few seconds of trying and some mind-numbing pain later he realized that no amount of will was going to move his body right now.

"What happened?" Vergil thought in confusion. The last thing he recalled was being bitten by dozens of those worm demons. But as much as their bites had hurt the damage that they inflicted surely wouldn't have been enough straight-out make him fall unconscious. And thinking on that brought up another question.

"Where did those things go?" He asked himself while trying to open his eyes. No success. Though his body ached he couldn't feel any actual wounds along his body. In fact, it felt like he was completely fine, except for the fact that his perfectly-healed body couldn't move.

"Wait!" He managed to say out loud as he thought it. He _did _remember something else after the things had pinned him down. Without actually thinking about it, he must have devil-triggered.

But Vergil hadn't fainted in that state since he was first learning how to use it. At the beginning, when he was only capable of maintaining his demon form for a few seconds at a time, he would faint simply from the stress that the demonic energy put on his body.

The first few times, in fact, he hadn't even been able to turn into a complete devil form, he simply flashed into the state for an instant and then fell down from the energy it took from him. But that had been years ago.

He'd used his devil-trigger state to ascend Temen-ni-gru more quickly when he awoke after his second encounter with Dante. And simply making it up there alone must have taken, at the very least, ten minutes. And that was not including the fighting. Though, to be honest, that didn't extend the timeframe by much. He had barely even stopped to fight the various hell-prides, lusts and others while running his way through the countless corridors.

He took a deep breath, even though it hurt to do so. He was getting off-topic. The main point was that he shouldn't have lost consciousness simply from turning into a demonic form.

"Was it because I had been tired? Or maybe…" He started to think about the other possibility when he heard someone above him laugh. No, it sounded more like a giggle than an actual laugh.

"Is someone _giggling _at me?!" Vergil thought in an indescribable amount of anger. It sounded like a girl, though she seemed to actually be happy. He couldn't tell though because he hadn't been able to open his eyes yet.

Using the discipline that he had beaten into himself over the years to ignore the pain; Vergil managed to push an eyelid up enough to see a happy face staring down at him.

But when he closed the eye and opened again it was gone. He hadn't even been able to tell what the person's hair color was. But the smile seemed familiar. It was a kind of carefree smile which only children or those with the kindest of hearts could manage to push onto their faces.

With the description that he had given it Vergil instantly knew whose smile it reminded him of; his mother's. She was the only person who he remembered ever being able to smile like that. Though she was a wise, experienced person she also had a kind of warmness about her which seemed to repel the general darkness of the world. She had been like a candle flame in an unlit opera hall. But pushing these human thoughts out of his mind, Vergil finally managed to open both eyes.

Luckily for him, since it was apparently always night in this demonic wasteland there was very little which beamed down at him. Most of the moon was blocked out by the castle's tall walls.

Though he could only see the area directly around him because he was still unable to move, the person who had smiled didn't seem to be around.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Vergil managed to violently twist himself to crash face-down into the stone. The pain it caused him allowed his body to move, since it thought it was being attacked. He shakily pushed himself to a knee when he spotted Yamato. It was in it's sheathe and slightly out of reach. He crawled, an act which felt strange to him, over to his treasured possession and used it to push himself up to his feet.

Taking a brake to allow his body a moment to recover, Vergil looked around. The gate had been shut, most likely by him while he was blacked out.

Twisting his body to look behind him he finally started to notice some of the castle's other features besides it's walls and gate. There was, as he had predicted, a large stone building in the middle of the whole area. It seemed about the size of a grand opera house and had an overall box-shaped appearance. Though there were gargoyles and tall arched windows on the higher levels. There was also a single huge circular rose-glass window near the top which told a story he couldn't put together since it was meant to be seen from the inside. Its double-door entrance was two stories tall and firmly closed. Both the stone of the building and the wood of the doors seemed to be quite old, which probably meant that whoever had this place built either had no use for it or, more likely, had been slain by another demon.

But the thing that really caught his eye was one of the watch-towers that were position along the length of the walls. It wasn't as spectacularly designed or as large as the building in the middle, but it was just as tall and peered over the walls. Its single plain wooden door entrance at the bottom was still slightly open. He glanced at all the other towers and none of them had open doors.

Also, he could just barely hear echoes of footsteps coming from that tower. On that note, Vergil pushed himself to a standing position and started walking, albeit slowly, towards the tower.

"Regardless of whether they're friendly or not, I should be able to at the very least get directions from them." He thought while making his way across the cobblestone to the tower.

It was then that he heard it. At first the noise just sounded like a loud wind blowing. But in a second its volume and tone increased and he could easily distinguish it as a person's singing voice. And what a voice it was.

Normally Vergil didn't indulge himself in the pointless activities that humans found so necessary to take up their time with. But he had gone after some people who knew about demonic powers in the past and some had been attending operas. Though the whole idea of having a musical story seemed absurd to him, the actual singing itself had been one of the things he enjoyed the most about humans. And there were very few things on that list.

But this voice was eons more beautiful and angelic than those that belonged to the performers in the opera houses. In fact his mother, Eva, had always enjoyed singing; though she usually only hummed to herself when others were around.

At that thought he lost mind. The mere premise that his mother might be here was enough for his human side to assassinate it's demonic fellows and control his body completely. He ignored the throbbing pain it caused him as he ran towards the tower. Though his mind was telling his body that it could just as easily be some kind of succubus he wasn't able to even consider that. Whether it was because he was tired, or because he simply wanted to see his mother, he didn't care.

Vergil crashed through the door and looked up. The tower had stairs that led from one corner to another before turning to the right and going up more.

But he couldn't see anyone from here. So his body forced the now-numb legs to fumble their way up the stairs. Yamato grew heavy in his hands and he knew that his body was about to collapse, but that wasn't enough to keep him from ascending the stairs.

His consciousness began to fade. The light that came in through the tall, narrow windows on each floor seemed to brighten and now the whole tower resembled a stairway to twilight. All the while that same, entrancing song seemed to carry him up the stairs.

Vergil didn't know if he'd been running for minutes or hours but eventually the legs which he no longer seemed to be moving on his own ran out of steps and landed on a solid floor. To his right there was a broken railing and to his left there was a narrow hallway. He walked down its short length, towards a reinforced door and shakily put a hand on its side. The door was ajar and allowed some of the moonlight in the other room to spill out into the windowless hallway that he stood in.

He could barely stand now. The weariness that had receded somewhat when he woke up was now back in full force. The smoothness with which the song was sung certainly didn't help him resist the urge to simply keel over. Vergil had to struggle just to keep his eyes open. But he pushed through the pain and pulled the door open all the way.

For some reason, instead of scanning the room for his mother all he could do was stand next to the open doorway and gaze down at his feet.

The song had stopped when he opened the door and he could just barely make out someone's shadow.

Instead of looking up, he took a weary step forward. Then another step. If it was a succubus had had just given them a free meal.

But… if on the off chance it really _was _his mother it didn't matter how much pain he had to endure. How numb his limbs became. He would stay with her. Vergil decided to take another step before looking up, but when he made the step, he tripped and fell forward, towards the figure.

Just as he was going to land on the ground, he felt himself get caught. Looking out with tired eyes, he saw the shoulder of a white dress and felt someone underneath him, holding him up.

"Is it really you?" He asked, now in a half-comatose state.

His neck wasn't positioned right for him to be able to see her face. And the moonlight reflecting off of her long hair made it seem as silver as his own. But her grip didn't feel like the entrapping snare that succubus put their victims in before taking their life from them. It felt comforting. Like the person felt a connection with him as their arms wrapped around his back.

Almost _hearing _the muscles in his body straining, Vergil pushed himself to look up at her face, which, for a moment, was just a white silhouette due to the moonlight. But when he could see her actual features he knew they were human.

However, in place of his mother's long blonde hair the woman, or girl rather, had long _black_ hair.

Her face seemed childlike even though her actual appearance seemed to be that of a sixteen-year-old.

Her eyes were an indescribably pure blue. They seemed to almost be radiating with a certain energy.

The simple fact though, was that regardless of who it was, it wasn't his mother.

He had to keep his human side from crying, but he was too tired to feel as much sadness as he usually would.

The girl leaned forward, embracing him tighter, and moved her head past his. He felt her breath on his neck and suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. He couldn't remember anyone being this close since he was very young. Even when he and Dante would fight they were always at least a few inches away from each other. It almost felt nice…

Except when he felt teeth sink into his neck and his eyes widened in shock.

She wasn't a succubus. They had a way of telling what kind of condition their victims were in, though someone probably wouldn't require such an ability to see his weakened state. Succubae also had a habit of revealing their true form right before they fed on their victim.

But then what was she?! Obviously not human. But he hadn't heard of any real demons that always held the appearance of humans and fed on them in such a way. The closest things resembling that were the vampires of human legends. But they didn't exist.

As he felt his blood being drained from him though he knew it didn't matter.

Now that the entrancing song had stopped and he knew the girl wasn't his mother Vergil's human side wasn't restraining him either. But even without his internal resistance it took all of his energy simply to push the girl off him. She was unnaturally strong.

In a daze, he looked up at her, and saw that she was in the same position, though her arms were now at her sides. This was followed by a realization that he hadn't pushed her _off _him, but he'd pushed himself _away_.

"What are you?" He thought with as much dread as someone who is always around death can feel. She still held that smile that she had before; as if she hadn't just been trying to kill him. It was like she had no intention to kill, that she was simply doing what felt normal.

He scowled while reaching for the hilt of Yamato. She didn't seem to notice.

"Mm. You're delicious." She said, as if he was a damn food dish.

His eyes flared with anger and he drew out Yamato, piercing it through her chest.

Her face changed significantly when she realized there was a long piece of extremely sharp metal impaled through her. The smile had turned into a look of surprise, and her head fell down, looking at the floor.

Due to her long bangs, all Vergil could see was her chin and her mouth. But he knew the look of death. Or so he thought.

Her smile returned and she made a soft purring noise in her throat as her head pulled itself up again.

Her right arm rose as well and came up to caress his cheek.

"You like to stick it to girls, don't you?" She said in a suggestive tone before her hand came back near her face as she giggled childishly.

"Wha-" Vergil let out in his surprise.

Right before the hand snapped forward and hit him through the doorway, the hall and to the edge of the landing that the steps led to.

He struggled to sit up and looked back in surprise towards the girl who had made him look like a fool.

She was standing now, a hand pushed against the doorway as if to feel the texture of the old wood. Yamato was still sticking out of her; impaled up to the tsuba. (hand guard) She didn't even seem to notice as she felt the old soft wood with her fingers.

Then, a second later, her left hand came up and pulled Yamato out of her, tossing it casually across the hall. He tried to catch it as it skidded towards him, but he missed, and the long katana slid off the edge of the landing, falling down the stories and stories of height with a whirling noise before clanging on the stone far below.

As it did he noticed that the same girl was right next to him, bending over with a hand over her eyes, gazing down at it; a look of interest on her face.

As she noticed he was looking at her the girl's smile returned and she closed her eyes at the same time. Like the look an innocent young child gives their parent when they look at the child while the kid has fun.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" He asked her in an irritated tone. It was obvious that in his tired and now near-bloodless state she could have easily killed him despite how hard it was for him to admit it.

Being defeated was bad enough. But being ignored as if he was of no significance was simply unacceptable.

"Hm?" She asked, seeming to actually be confused. This just further enraged him.

"Don't act like a fool! It's obvious that you could have killed me by now." Her smile came back as she looked away, but seemed to be thinking to herself.

"You taste so good. I want to save you for later." It took everything in Vergil's power to not simply lunge at the girl. She was talking about him like he was a pet or a favorite food. But he knew that there was no way he could kill her as he was now.

So instead, he struggled to his feet. The childish girl frowned in interest as she watched him get up.

"'Save me until later' huh?" He thought out loud in a solemn tone. He looked down at his left hand and opened it.

"I may not be my father's true successor as Dante is. But…" He thought inside his head this time as he clenched his fist and bent his heels up.

"There is enough honor in these veins to deserve a better fate than simply being something's snack!" He said in a declaration before jumping off the landing, towards the ground that was easily ten stories below.

As he fell, Vergil thought of how strange it was that this was the second time he had dramatically jumped off a high place in one day.

* * *

I know it was long. I had him think too much, but considering he couldn't move I think it's a better alternative to him simply thinking of what "this cloud looks like" for twenty paragraphs. Also, I know the inuuendo thing may have been too strong for some people, but I couldn't think of anything else to say that would fit. And since my idea of the girl's(fans of hers will know who she is) humor is that she finds ridiculous things funny as opposed to just plain weird that's what I came up with.


	5. Dead man, orange and loneliness

Thanks Kez-o the brave for your review. Sorry for the chapter name, I couldn't think of anything short and simple.

* * *

The tasty-man was dead. He'd jumped off of the landing and fell all the way down to the bottom. Though he seemed different than the other people she used to feed on there was no way he could survive that. She shrugged.

"Oh well." She said carelessly before hopping off the landing herself and fell down to the bottom floor, landing almost completely on top of him. She didn't notice that her dress was draped over his breathless body while looking around for the door.

She licked at her lips, as if there might be just a fraction of blood left for her to get before she had to admit that there wasn't any left. She pouted at the thought.

It was rude of him to just jump off like that.

She didn't understand what he said before he jumped off either.

"There is enough honor in these veins to deserve a better fate than simply being something's snack!" He'd said. She shrugged again; having lost interest.

Then she walked forward, towards the door. The door was open and moonlight came in through the doorway. It was really pretty. So pretty in fact, that she stood there for quite a while just staring up longingly at the moon.

When that man came she had been sleeping; trying to conserve her energy until someone came by to feed on.

As it turned out, most of the things down her tasted absolutely _terrible_. One of the hideous things, a purple-cloaked one with a scythe and grey skin with red eyes, had tasted like sweat. While another with an orange outfit, a scythe as well, and the same skin and eye colors as the other had tasted like something disgusting that she couldn't even put a finger on. Though she thought happily about how the scrawny one carrying the huge organic sack on its shoulders had tasted like an orange. But since there were so few of those most of the time she only met the previous kinds and others that tasted like sand, sewer-water, moldy old wood and paper. She moved her mouth as if to get the bad taste out of it.

"That man though…" She thought as she looked down at him.

"I've never tasted anything like that. It's almost like he's not a human." In fact, most of those bad-tasting things didn't die after she drank from them. She'd had to kill them with something else.

After thinking about it for a few more seconds she got bored with it and decided it didn't matter.

It was unlikely she would find anyone else that tasted as good as he had but she hated drinking from them when they were cold.

It was so windy outside that her dress and hair were instantly thrashed around by it.

She gave a huff, and then walked out away from the tower.

This whole place was unbelievably boring. There was almost no one around who tasted good and she couldn't find any new dresses. Even this one that she'd found was all dirty and now had a hole in it. Her hair had also become somewhat matted due to there not being anywhere to wash herself nearby.

But most of all, she missed her sister.

"Saya." She spoke softly in a rare moment of deep thought.

She and her sister had been fighting before Saya stabbed her and she woke up in this place.

It didn't bother her that much that Saya had tried to kill her. She was used to that.

But it deeply saddened her when she woke up here all alone. Though she had stabbed Saya at the same time that Saya had stabbed her, only she had woken up here.

It wasn't fair.

"Why does Saya always get to have fun while I'm always left out?" She thought with an equal amount of anger and sadness.

At that moment she felt very cold. And for some reason she wanted to just curl herself up on the ground.

Both her hair and dress blew around freely as she lay down on the hard stone.

"I miss Saya." She said sadly before closing her eyes.

"She'd rather be dead than alone."

* * *

I know it was short, but I'll update very soon so don't worry. Sorry Vergil fans for the lack of his involvement in this chapter. But for those who don't know about the character that I'm introducing I thought it would be important that they actually know something about her.


	6. Veledio, Saya and stubborn blood

"Diva." She heard her name called out to her. Her eyes flickered open and she looked around from her lying position to see who it was that had spoke her name.

"Diva, come here." She heard spoken to her again.

The voice was coming from the big building with the beautiful window at the top.

It was barely above a whisper, but she recognized the voice.

Her interest caused Diva to uncurl herself and look around again. The source of the voice still couldn't be seen, but she was sure it had come from that big building.

The voice definitely sounded like a girl, but she couldn't think of anyone in particular who it reminded her of.

"Diva, come in here." The voice whispered to her again.

She didn't like being told what to do and even if it _was _someone familiar, she wasn't going to go to them just because they wanted her to.

She'd rather go back to sleep and stop feeling cold. The dress had originally not looked that bad, but it wasn't very thick from the beginning.

Though if she was willing to endure the cold for a few seconds in order to get into a tower or the building it would reward her by protecting her from the wind and the cold she didn't care what it _would _do. She cared how she felt right now.

But again the voice beckoned her to come into the building. It was starting to irritate her with its near-constant bothering.

But she recognized something in the voice that she hadn't before. It sounded like the person the voice belonged to had a similar voice to hers.

At that thought she sprung up, not caring about how the wind lashed at her face or how the cold froze it.

The voice sounded like Saya's. It had definitely sounded like her older twin.

The only reason she hadn't noticed it before was because Saya had never spoke to her in a whisper before. But it couldn't be anyone else.

Diva ran excitedly towards the large buildings huge entrance doors.

"Maybe she came here too! She just couldn't find me!" Saya's previous attempt at killing her completely forgotten, Diva almost crashed into the doors before pulling at them. They wouldn't budge.

She frowned.

"Open up." She told the doors, fully expecting them to do so.

When they didn't she simply hit them where they met and the two massive doors were crashed inward.

Diva walked in as the dust cloud dissipated.

She wondered why Saya had locked her out for a moment before she stopped caring and scanned the large hall for her sister.

It was very big and had lots of beautifully-crafted pillars which stretched all the way to its four-story-tall ceiling but was absent of the only thing she cared about; Saya. While the dark-green tiles that resembled scales on a snake and the huge organ opposite the entrance she'd come in would have held most people in awe, to her it was just another uninteresting thing.

But not being able to see her sister gave Diva an idea.

"Hey, are you trying to play hide-and-seek?!" She shouted out happily, her voice echoing throughout the room.

Diva put a hand to her ear to listen for a response but none came. She giggled in response.

Saya wasn't going to make this easy for her. But she didn't care.

Diva ran into the middle of the room while saying "Ready or not, here I come!" in a gleeful voice.

The room was virtually identical throughout. The only differences in it were the entrance that took up two floors on one wall, the large organ opposite it whose pipes extended up three floors and the circular rose-glass window which sat in place on the top floor above the entrance. The pillars all seemed to have a stone snake slithering up them, though how far up they went couldn't be told because the ceiling was shrouded in darkness. The colors of the rose-glass windows caused the moon, which seemed perfectly placed within the circle, to send light down through it and display the window's pattern on the organ. It resembled a snake coiled up, prepared to strike.

All this showed a great knowledge of architecture, but it didn't deter Diva from being upset when she couldn't find Saya in its nearly maze-like design of pillars and columns.

"Okay, I give up! Come on out!" She shouted throughout the grand hall. But she didn't see Saya reveal herself. Diva bit her lip as she thought of how she could get Saya to come out. Just as she decided that couldn't think of anything Diva saw something move in the shadows.

"Found you!" She shouted out while running towards where she'd seen the thing move. But there was nothing to be seen.

Diva frowned at having lost sight of her sister and turned around; coming face-to-face with a huge snake. Its scales resembled the color of the green tiles and the large yellow eyes with black slits down the middle examined her, as if deciding what to eat first. Its true length couldn't be told because of the room's relative darkness, but if its huge head which was as big as cow was any indication the rest of its body must be at least a hundred feet long.

Diva's smile returned and looked at it like a small child would look at a rabbit.

"Oh, how cute! Hey, have you seen my big sister Saya around?" She asked while looking left and right, expecting her to appear.

"I am Veledio! The snake god!" It hissed menacingly at her as its large tongue shot in and out of its mouth. Diva didn't even stop looking.

"I can't seem to find her. We're playing hide-and-seek, but she's real sneaky."

She spoke, emphasizing "real".

"Ignorant human! Do not pretend you are unalarmed! Or you shall feel the wrath of-"

"Saya! Come out now! I've gotten tired of looking for you!" As Diva finished her sentence she heard Saya's voice whisper at her from Veledio's direction.

She looked at it, and then tried to look around it.

"Are you behind the big worm?" She asked absentmindedly.

"Fool! I am the snake god, Veledio!"

"You already said that." Diva spoke while still looking for Saya.

"Are you looking for me?" She heard Saya's voice come from Veledio's direction again.

Diva looked directly at Veledio as it spoke again.

"One of my powers is to be able to speak in the victim's most desired tone." It said again, seeming to laugh at her at the same time.

Diva's smile and carefree expression melted away and was replaced by a cold look and a suppressed scowl.

"You mean Saya isn't here?" She spoke in a quiet tone that belied her hatred.

"Don't worry; your sadness will dissipate with you inside my stomach!" It hissed loudly while rearing back to strike.

However, its preparation was interrupted when it was struck and hit through a pillar. It shook its head while rising and looked at Diva.

"You! What did you do?!"

Diva stood still, her hand which had just hit Veledio came back to rest at her side while her face turned towards the giant snake demon. Its head recoiled slightly when it saw her blue eyes which were now literally glowing.

"Where is she?" Diva asked in a tone that intimated Veledio. But though it was frightened by her Veledio reared back again in preparation for another strike.

"You can't reach me this time! I'll bite you in half!" It screeched while lunging towards her. It crashed into Diva's position, but she wasn't there.

"What?!" It hissed out in surprise.

"Tell me where Saya is!" Yelled Diva who had jumped above Veledio.

The snake demon just hissed a laugh at her before the its tail hit her through one pillar and into another. She slid down the cratered pillar and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

Her bangs hung down like a curtain of death and Veledio cried out in victory.

"You want to know where your sister is?" It asked in a taunting manner.

"Most likely, she isn't even here. Beings that originate in the human world that aren't human end up here after death. That is how your 'animals' came to live in your world. But if things like you get killed here then you go to 'hell' just as the humans do!"

"I see." She said softly, surprising Veledio who had thought she was unconscious.

"Saya probably isn't even here." Diva said, depressed. But she quickly recovered her smile, though it too was affected by her sad demeanor.

"Then I'll find a way to get out of this world and go see Saya. She'll be so surprised. I can't wait to see the look on her face." Diva looked up again, her blue eyes peering out at Veledio as if it were insignificant.

"But before I go and do that…" She started as Veledio lunged at her again and she dodged as before. Veledio's tail came up to strike at Diva as it had last time but she fall for it twice and gracefully dodged it while in mid-air before landing on Veledio's head.

"…I'm going to have a little snack." Then Diva started to pull herself towards the underside of Veledio's neck, where it didn't have any scales to protect itself.

"Get off!" It hissed out desperately while trying to shake her off itself. Diva just tightened her grip and pulled herself further towards the snake demon's exposed neck.

Before she could sink her teeth into Veledio's neck however, she felt something inside her change. Just then she felt the equivalent of a thousand human fevers hit her all at once.

Veledio, taking this precious chance to save itself, swatted Diva off it with its tail. This time Diva landed in a crouch on the floor and started to stand up. But the fever magnified and she keeled over, putting a hand in front of her mouth as if to keep something from coming out.

"What's happening?" She thought in a dazed state. Then something inside her convulsed and she threw up blood on the tile.

"My blood feels strange." Diva thought while trying to keep herself from throwing up anymore blood. But she couldn't stop herself. She could feel all of the precious blood that she drunk from that man separate from her own and start to force its way up her lungs and out of her mouth, causing her to throw up more blood.

"It's rejecting me!" She thought, briefly analyzing what was going on. But without his blood in her she no longer had enough to function well and first fell to her knees, then on her stomach, landing in the puddle of blood that had forced its way out of her. Even now it was still resisting her; agitating the part of her body which lie in it.

"This is no fun." Diva spoke weakly as the snake demon slithered up next to her, baring its enormous fangs.

* * *

I might as well do the disclaimer now since I've introduced Diva. Disclaimer: I don't own Blood+(the show Diva's from) its characters or anything else within its universe. Unfortunately I'm not good at writing Diva but hopefully I can improve as time goes on. Anyone that reads this, please review and follow in Kez-o the brave's footsteps. More reviews equals me more excited which equals more chapters. heh. Like I said before, no flames, but constructive criticism is fine.


	7. Terms for the dying

I've decided that the chapter names will vary depending on what character is telling the story. This is pretty much an excuse for the bad names of the previous two. Anyway, here it is.

* * *

"I really should stop jumping like that." Vergil thought to himself as he woke up with a pain that felt like he had a demon in his back. He struggled to push himself up and make sure there wasn't an _actual _demon on his back; there wasn't. He lowered himself back down to the ground and sighed.

He was lucky that girl hadn't waited for him. Otherwise he might have woken up with absolutely no blood left in him whatsoever.

Dante and he were naturally resistant to injuries. If they got hurt, the wounds quickly healed themselves, though how quickly this happened depended on their current condition.

But something that Dante most likely didn't know was that if they _did _in fact die, their bodies would repair the wounds that had caused their death until the electrical charge faded from the body itself.

This basically meant that unless they were dissolved in acid or similarly finished off they could still recover, even from death.

From the kink in his neck Vergil guessed that what had "killed" him was a broken neck.

Yamato lay right next to him and Vergil stuck out a weak hand to grasp its hilt. Luckily, he was recovering much quicker than last time.

"Where is she?" He wondered.

To be honest, he didn't even know if he could beat her at full strength without using his devil trigger. And Vergil didn't want to take that chance.

Most likely she had simply lost interest in him because he was dead at the time. But it was unlikely that she had gone far.

He forced himself to his feet and look out the doorway of the tower. She wasn't in sight.

"Perhaps the girl has gone to another building." He thought to himself. Vergil took a deep breath, and then stepped out into the windy yard of the castle. His coat blew with the wind while his hair, which had apparently gained a tolerance over the years, stood still, with only a few strands giving into the wind's breeze.

After seeing that the girl was not in the immediate vicinity Vergil slid Yamato along its sheathe and then inside of it with a click sound at the end is it snapped into place.

Following this Vergil walked towards a spot that looked to be somewhat cleaner than the rest of the sand-covered stone that filled the courtyard.

Why it was that those demons couldn't reform themselves from the sand Vergil was unsure of. Perhaps it was because the sand was spread so thin.

In any case it was virtually impossible to tell where she'd gone with the wind blowing the sand around everywhere.

"Hm. Maybe she _did _leave." Vergil thought. But he looked at the gate and it didn't look like it'd been moved since he last closed it.

Then Vergil heard a loud crashing sound come from the building in the middle of the castle which he just now realized had no entrance doors.

He didn't know what was happening inside the building, but the layout of his whole area was a complete mystery to him, so he would require directions if he was to find somewhere to go. Though to be honest he didn't really have anywhere in particular that he wanted to travel.

Vergil stopped and thought about it.

"I'll go pay a visit to Mundus. He's been the king of this world long enough. It's time for him to step down." Vergil thought in an interested manner, wondering what it would be like to be the ruler of the entire demon world.

For a moment, his right hand started grasping at the air; as if to take the very power of the wind from it. But Vergil stopped it from moving and continued towards the building.

His demon nature was starting to get the best of him. Being in the demon world must have strengthened its power over him enough that it could directly affect his actions. Still, it was of no concern. He simply strengthened his hold over it and felt the urge to draw Yamato out of its sheathe lessen.

The sound repeated again, though this time it sounded slightly different. Vergil had almost made it to the steps of the building when he saw something slither deep within the building's shadowed interior.

His right hand instinctively placed itself on Yamato's hilt as he walked up the steps and stood in the doorway.

"Hmph. It's that girl again." Vergil noted mentally as he noticed the girl who had attacked him before was fighting some sort of large snake demon. At first it seemed like the thing had defeated her, but she began attacking it again, this time apparently in anger.

Vergil examined the battle, partially out of preparation to fight whoever emerged victorious and partially out of interest. The large snake demon easily had more strength than her, but because it was so large and she was so small it seemed incapable of catching her.

The girl landed on the thing's head and pulled herself towards the thing's soft under-neck. He thought of when she had done that to him not long ago and for a moment he wanted to simply run forward and cut both of them down simply out of agitation. But he restrained himself and noted that his temper was being affected by the demon world as well.

The snake demon was thrashing about to throw the girl from it but she wasn't letting go.

However, just as she reached its neck and Vergil decided to start towards them the girl seemed to become ill and the snake demon whipped her from its head with its tail. He actually took a step forward towards them when he saw that her state was worsening. But what bothered him the most was that he didn't know _why _he'd done so. Eventually Vergil managed to shake off the strange feeling by just considering it an instinctual fighting movement to attack the enemy while they were weak.

He took a few more steps, making sure to keep them quiet so he could observe the scene as long as possible without them noticing him. The girl was throwing up blood as she first fell to her knees and then fell down completely.

The snake demon slithered forward towards her, taking advantage of the situation.

He scowled.

"Scum." He thought.

Attacking an enemy while they didn't expect your attack was one thing, attacking them while they were incapable of defending themselves was just plain disgusting.

An image of him stabbing Dante with his own sword while they were on top of Temen-ni-gru briefly came to his mind but he suppressed it.

That was different.

Dante had already been defeated and was trying to get up again.

This girl hadn't been defeated yet.

Vergil forced the thought that he was simply justifying his actions out of his mind while pulling Yamato out of its sheathe and teleported towards the two of them as the snake opened its mouth, revealing teeth that were easily as long as a human leg and dripping with poison.

The girl had seemed like she was a bit air-headed and strange, but it was eons better than putting up with a demon who'd had centuries to bolster its arrogance and she would probably be at least a bit more cooperative than the demon.

Just requiring someone's help made him scowl, let alone someone who had attempted and almost succeeded in killing him. But unless he wanted to spend decades walking around his damned wasteland fighting those worm demons he was willing to put up with her…

Until she lived out her usefulness to him anyway.

Vergil told himself all of this in the time it took him to reach the demon's mouth. Then he struck out with Yamato and severed its teeth from the rest of its mouth and landed on the ground in front of the girl, facing her.

For a moment the demon didn't seem to notice that its fangs had been cut and kept moving towards the two of them.

But its venom slid along the bottom of Yamato before reaching the tip and dripping off.

When it landed on the ground the snake demon's fangs fell from its head and it began thrashing about; knocking down columns in its pain-filled rage.

The girl looked up at him; her weak eyes showing as much surprise as they could while she was half-dead.

He looked down at her with an emotionless face.

"You'll tell me everything you know about this area. Those are the terms if you wish to live."

Vergil noticed a trace of acknowledgement in her failing eyes.

He looked into them for a few more seconds before turning back towards the snake demon who had apparently collected itself. He could even see just the slightest hint of new fangs poking out of the crevices from which the old ones had come.

"Who the hell are you?!" It hissed angrily at him. Vergil swiped Yamato downward to shake any remaining venom off it before sliding it back within its sheathe.

"My name is of no concern to you." He spoke solemnly while gripping Yamato.

"You're right." It hissed, having lost its angry tone.

"Because you're about to die!" It threatened while lunging forward.

Vergil waited until it was about a half a foot away before slashing diagonally upwards with Yamato, causing him to spin back to face the girl.

The demon stopped its attack, apparently wondering what he had just done. However, the blood that dripped off of Yamato was enough of a testament to what he had done for himself to be satisfied.

Vergil shook Yamato, as if to shake something annoying off of your foot, then slid the sword back into its sheath and stopped momentarily, only to snap it all the way and hear the snake demon's head separate from the rest of its body.

"W- what?" It stumbled out while falling down.

The head landed with a loud plop on the ground and the long neck which had held its head aloft fell down as well, though it gave a few spasms before finally ceasing to move.

Vergil walked over towards the organ's bench as the massive amounts of blood which spilled from the snake demon's head and neck flowed like a wave down towards the girl who seemed on the verge of fainting.

The blood lapped against the girl's lips, which moved to allow it into her mouth. Considering that she would simply be drinking the blood as it came towards her as opposed to sucking it out herself it was likely that she would take a while to recover. But she wasn't going to help her over to the snake demon's corpse simply so she could recover more quickly. Besides, though he had regained most of his strength he was still somewhat tired.

Vergil decided he would rest while waiting for the strange girl to recover.

To be honest, he didn't know how humans constantly put up with helping one another.

* * *

I would appreciate another review quite a bit. They are great boosters for my motivation. (Translation: In exchange for a review, you get another chapter quicker.)


	8. Jamaica, a smiley face and blue eyes

Diva awoke as if she had just been dreaming. Her body felt much better than it had before she fell asleep. The horrible aching throughout her body had stopped and she felt more hydrated as well.

At first she didn't know, or care, about what had happened. Her eyes just flickered open and stared out at the thing in front of her; the severed head of that snake thing she had been fighting. She rolled over, facing away from it. She appreciated the thought of putting something cute next to her while she was sleeping, but the snake thing wasn't nearly as cute as it had been before. The eyes just stared blankly at her and its mouth stayed still. That wasn't any fun. But at that thought Diva started to push herself up.

"Who put that thing near me?" Diva thought. She didn't remember killing it, so someone else must have. The entire front part of her dress was drenched in blood and one of the sides of her face felt too wet. Like your lips after you've been eating an apple. Though most people would have been interested in knowing what had made them healthy again, Diva didn't really care as she looked around the area.

It was still as boring as before. Now that she knew Saya wasn't here the room's pillars, once a bunch of fun things to hide behind, were now just a bunch of stupid tall things that were of no interest to her. But when she saw that organ, and the man who was sitting on the bench of it, she became interested again.

"It's the tasty man!" She thought excitedly while beginning to walk towards him. His eyes had been closed, but when she took the first step his eyes opened up and looked directly at her. He looked much healthier this time. His skin had more color to it and even the bite she had given him was healed.

"Can you talk?" He asked, not seeming to care if she was feeling well. But Diva hadn't noticed and simply made an acknowledging sound as she walked closer to him.

"How do I get to where Mundus is?" He asked as if she was supposed to know.

"Moon…dis? Is that a city in Jamaica or something?" She asked absent-mindedly. He sighed for some reason and got off the bench.

"Mundus. The king of the demon world." This was getting boring, so Diva started walking towards the doorway that led outside.

"Where are you going?" He asked like she was supposed to stay here. She shrugged and kept walking.

"You would tell me everything you knew about this area. Those were the terms when I saved your life." Diva kept walking, not caring what he was talking about.

"I see. So you won't tell me." Diva was almost to the doorway as she spoke.

"You talk too much." She said childishly. After a few seconds she heard him speak up again.

"You're right." Then Diva heard him move and felt something coming towards her. She hopped out of the way of whatever it was that she felt. A purple orb appeared where she had just been and then imploded; instantly holes appeared in the doorway and a neat crater was formed in the floor.

"We're done talking." He said solemnly while she heard him walking towards her. But Diva barely even acknowledged him. She was bent over, looking into the crater.

It looked more like un-hardened clay now than the green-tiled scale appearance it had held before. Diva picked up a sharper piece that had come off of one of the entrance doors and started inscribing something in the soft clay when she heard a strange whoosh sound coming from behind her. A moment later Diva felt the man behind her and twisted out of the way of his next predictable attack. Still, though he was predictable this was kind of fun.

He seemed surprised by her for some reason but kept attacking. She kept dodging in childish ways, all the while continuing to draw her picture into the clay until it was finished. Diva dodged one final time, but heard something rip as she did so. After landing and examining her dress she saw that there was a cut right above her left knee. She looked at him again and despite his cold look he seemed at least mildly satisfied at the result.

Until he saw what she'd written in the clay. She giggled when he noticed that it was a smiley face with a speech bubble that said "What took you so long?" Then he got irritated and started slashing and stabbing at her. But she just kept dodging his predictable attacks. Diva's childish smile turned into a bored frown.

He was like Saya; so straightforward and candid. But since he reminded her of Saya a bit she allowed him to continue for a while until it was simply too boring to put up with. Just as she was going to swat him away though, he slashed quicker than usual. Diva had to jump back to keep her stomach from being sliced open. Even then the blade still cut the dress near the top of her stomach. She looked at it and then looked at him again.

She only had _one _dress and he was ruining it. The man noticed the change in her expression and she saw a smirk flash across his features.

"Are you finally starting to take this fight seriously?" She ignored him.

"You're boring me now. Leave me alone." He scowled at her.

"Teh. 'Boring' you hm? My apologies. I'm so used to fighting my brother; when someone doesn't just run around hacking randomly at the air it feels out of place. Very well. I'll give it my all if you will." He was becoming interesting again. She closed her eyes and gave a small grin, then used her own quick way of moving to get all the way back to the snake head in less than a second. Diva then turned back towards the entranceto see how well he'd kept up with her. He was standing not ten feet from her.

The grin started to turn into a satisfied smile as she punched a fist into the dead snake head's gums.

He seemed curious to what she was doing but had stopped talking. After a moment of searching around inside the soft rubbery material her hand found what it wanted and clamped down on it. Diva pulled it out with a squelching tear and the hand held up one of the snake demon's fangs which had been re-growing inside its mouth.

She hit it against a pillar and a large portion of it fell off. Afterwards what was left was one of its roots as a handle for her and the fang, having lost its coating meant to keep toxins off it, was now extremely sharp. He seemed somewhat impressed by her resourcefulness and then ran forward, slicing at her. Diva waited until the blade was close to her before ducking under the swipe and stabbing up with the severed fang. The man back-flipped out of the way of the strike and landed where he'd started.

This time it was Diva's turn to be satisfied. He was much more entertaining to fight than Saya. The man ran towards her again, this time dragging his blade along the floor and swung it up at her. She struck it away and then stabbed at him. The man twisted, barely avoiding the fang, and came up behind her, swinging his sword while doing so. Diva stamped down on it with her shoe, surprising the man in the process. Then she twisted herself and stabbed out again. He managed to pull the sword out from underneath her shoe and block her stab, but it left him open and she kicked him into a pillar.

He barely even flinched before slicing through the pillar at the bottom and then disappeared in a kind of blue flash; the same way he had gotten to her to so quickly before. But he hadn't reappeared next to her and she looked around for a few seconds before hearing another cut far above her, in the shadows of ceiling.

Diva's smile became increasingly more satisfied as she saw the same pillar start to descend towards her. She casually stepped out of its path and waited for the heavy stone column to crash on the ground. After crunching the green tile with its massive impact it lay in shattered pieces. But because of how old this building was a huge dust cloud was pushed out by it and she couldn't see anything.

Diva put a hand in front of her face to keep dust from getting in her eyes while scanning the area for him. Then she caught a glimpse of a shadow and lunged towards it, stabbing out with the fang. T

The shadow turned towards her, but when she punctured a stone pillar as opposed to a human body and heard the man move towards her she knew it had been a trap. Diva let go of the fang which was now stuck in the pillar and began dodging his blows again.

"Don't tell me we're back to this again." He said, a smirk just beginning to form on his face. Diva allowed her cheek to get cut by the blade before dashing behind him and kicking his back. He grunted in pain but twisted around to face her. She landed next to the fang and looked on at the man.

He had noticed the change in her and she saw more or less the same look in his face that everyone gave when they saw her eyes change. Saya was the only person who had never given her a fearful look when she showed them and because of this it surprised Diva when the man gave a significantly less-fearful look than everyone else.

But it didn't really matter. She effortlessly pulled the fang out of the pillar and cut her hand with it, allowing the blood to slide down the blade, mixing with the small drops of venom that were still left from the snake's mouth.

"Here we go." Diva spoke seriously before lunging towards the man who was already as good as dead.

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My apologies Diva-fans. I'm just plain not good at writing carefree characters in general, which more-than-likely showed in this chapter. Lastly, I'm going to go over my previous chapters and make their grouping more like this since I've run out of "document-space". Hopefully this new way is better than the old way. Reviews are appreciated but no longer anticipated.(despite the way it's said, I'm not trying to sound like an ass.)


	9. Last resort

I must(really want to) say, I like this way of doing paragraphs much better. Even though things get spread kind of thin at least it's possible to actually read it now. Enjoy.

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Vergil braced himself. He'd still been holding himself back so there would be more power to tap into when that girl went into that special state of hers. But he could almost _feel _the power just radiating off of her. Even the false-behavior he'd shown before which had been designed to give him an edge now, didn't seem like it would do much. He could still win. That was certain. But it was looking more and more like he would have to use…

The girl lunged towards him.

Vergil dove to the left in order to dodge the attack and he felt the girl blast past him; almost a kind of wind following her because of her speed.

But just as he started to bring Yamato up in a counterattack he felt the girl start to attack again. She performed various thrusts at him; all of which he evaded. But with each dodge he performed Vergil felt her attacks increase in power and speed. Eventually he had to bring Yamato up to help him repel the attacks.

Her strength had more than multiplied. It had become otherworldly. With each strike that Vergil barely avoided or repelled he noticed that she was still getting better. If her abilities kept increasing as they were there was no way he would be able to defeat her without going into devil trigger.

She turned the fang in mind-thrust and rammed it at him. Though Vergil was able to block it with Yamato the sheer power behind her attack knocked him off his feet. He flipped while in the air and landed on his feet.

"I'm going to have to focus on this if I'm to win without using devil trigger." Vergil thought solemnly while looking up. The girl was already within five feet of him and once again he had to dodge and repel her attacks. This time, however, he decided to do something different. Vergil allowed his right shoulder to get cut by the girl's "sword" so that he could stab out at her himself. Though for a second he'd thought Yamato penetrated her stomach it was quickly revealed to be simply an after-image. As it dissipated he saw the girl running at him again. But he wasn't going to let her keep doing this until he was worn down.

Vergil snapped Yamato back in its sheathe and pushed himself backwards. After a second of concentrating he started slashing at the air at supersonic speeds, sending purple orbs at her. She jumped over the orbs, but he had simply used it to get her off her guard.

Vergil tricked, his name for the teleportation technique he used, up to her and swung Yamato down at her. The reflexes she had at the beginning of the battle wouldn't have even been able to react to his attack, but the heightened senses which she received when in that "Blue" state of hers not only made it possible for her to block the attack, but to knock Yamato out of Vergil's hands while doing so.

Though this surprised him it was far from shocking enough to make him hesitate. He grabbed Yamato's sheath and struck upwards at the fang which the girl was using as a sword. As expected, because the girl's grip had loosened after the attack, Vergil's strike sent the fang off in the opposite direction of where Yamato had fallen.

As the two of them began to fall out of the air the girl kicked Yamato's sheathe from Vergil's hands and the two were without weapons when they landed several feet apart.

Though humans would have instantly started towards their weapons the two of them simply stood there.

Regardless of who went for what weapon the other would be able to reach them before they got to the desired object and attack them.

So they stood, looking at each other. The girl's gaze seemed to flick momentarily to the area on his shoulder where she had cut him before and Vergil saw just a hint of surprise in her eyes when she noticed it had already healed.

But Vergil was done acting arrogant. It had simply been a ruse to make her drop her guard when she got serious anyway and had even failed at _that _purpose.

Vergil didn't know how strong she was, nor did he know how skilled she was in hand-to-hand combat. But regardless of that he needed to end this quickly. His right hand, the one that had briefly acted up before he entered the building, was starting to tremble again. He didn't know exactly what that meant but his body was getting too excited from all of the fighting that it was becoming harder and harder to fight against the urge to devil trigger.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he ran towards her.

Even though she _was _stronger than she looked most of the defensive actions she'd done in this battle were dodging. So if he acted like he was going to tackle her and made her dodge out of the way he could use that opportunity to attack her while she was caught off-guard.

He made it within a few feet of her and prepared to stop after she dodged.

But she didn't.

Instead, the girl casually stuck out a hand and grabbed him by the throat, stopping his charge with little effort despite all the momentum he'd built up. She lifted him up with her arm high enough so that he was in the air, despite their height difference.

He looked at her. Eyes wide open from how shocking it was that she could just stop him so easily.

For a moment she kept the serious expression she'd held before, but then it softened and turned into a satisfied grin.

The shock in Vergil's eyes was overcome by his anger. She'd made him look like trash _twice _now!

At that he brought a knee up against her chin. It caused her to let go of his neck and for her head to be facing upwards, but nothing else.

He almost stumbled back out of surprise. But once again the shock melted away and turned into anger.

He ran forward and yelled, punching and kicking at her quicker than a human could. But no matter what he did she just dodged; keeping that grin while doing so.

Vergil broke off a punch and tried to hit her with his elbow, but she caught it.

In response he tried to hit her again with his knee, but she caught that too with the other arm and simply tossed him into a pillar.

Vergil shook his head to clear it and then ran forward again. But instead of dodging his blows, this time she kicked him in the stomach, sending him into and through the pillar he had hit just a second ago.

He just barely managed to land on his feet, but she was already next to him and grabbed him by the collar of his coat and flung him into a wall. His coat came off while Vergil was in the air and so the rock in the wall bit into his bare arms.

This time Vergil couldn't land on his feet, and fell on it with his knees.

"Damn it!" He said angrily under his breath as he noticed her already close to him again.

Vergil swung at the girl again, but she ducked under the punch and hit him in the ribs with an elbow. The demonically-enhanced ribs easily broke under her hit and he started to fall to his knees again. But one of her hands struck him into the wall again and he slid down it, landing with his head facing downwards.

"Anything left to say now?" She asked him with a tone similar to when an executioner asks you if you have any last words.

He stared down, unbelieving, at the floor.

His hair had fallen down from its usual style and now resembled the way Dante wore his.

There was simply no way he could have lost again! It was unbelievable! But he knew that it had happened and relented, despite how hard it for him to do so. Vergil allowed himself to give into his urges.

His hand stopped trembling and Vergil spoke up.

"Just one word." He said, beginning to gain a smirk he had never had before. Then his head snapped up and glared at her in a look that mixed both roaring hatred and gleeful joy. The look caused her to take a step away.

"**_Crash!_**"

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Review if you want. I'll update soon.


	10. CRASH!

Sorry it's been so long since the last time I updated. I think I've lost the initial motivational edge that I usually get when first working on something. I hope you enjoy it. (Diva fans, read up to chapter 12.)

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"What?" Diva asked, more to herself than to him, after her initial shock had passed.

The man had changed. His once-white hair had disappeared and changed into a kind of crown which was the same color as his now-leathery blue skin. The man's face now also looked different; like there was a mask of some kind over his face which even covered his mouth. His pants and boots had disappeared; replaced by a strange kind of overcoat that somewhat resembled the one he'd just lost, and it was now impossible to tell the top of him from the bottom of him except from where his legs came out from underneath the strange coat.

The most shocking thing of all though, was his now pupil-less yellow eyes which stared out at her; their look making it impossible to tell what kind of expression he wore.

Diva got over all of this fairly quickly since she was used to being around things that were somewhat similar. But when he seemed to disappear in thin air, leaving behind that similar blue wind, she was completely speechless.

He had gone from barely breathing to so quick she couldn't even keep track of him with her heightened senses.

She felt him behind her and managed to haphazardly dodge his strike, which put a hole in the wall. He looked at her while casually pulling his hand out of the stone wall and then dashed towards her; creating a crater in the ground that he'd pushed off from.

Diva ran forward and struck out at him, but his body seemed to dissolve as she punched into it and she knew it had been a trap. He'd done that teleport move while coming at her and was now behind her again. This time though, she couldn't dodge quickly enough and he punched her in the face; sending her through several pillars and breaking her cheek-bone in the process.

When the dust cloud cleared she was standing again and both her broken cheek and the bruise that was on it had been healed. She looked for the fang that she had been using as a sword and found it.

She didn't wait for the man to catch up with her and moved as quickly as she could towards the fang.

Diva expected for him to try and attack her while she was going for the fang, but she hadn't even felt him _approach _her.

Then, when she looked ahead, she saw why.

He was already standing next to the fang, looking at it blankly. Then he looked up at her and she could swear she saw the area near his mouth split and reveal a demonic smirk. He pulled the fang out of the ground and hurled it at her like it was a javelin.

Diva just barely managed to side-step so that it didn't impale itself in her skull; the thing grazed her cheek instead as it flew past her and instead impaled itself in an unbroken pillar.

She glared at the thing the man had turned into before whipping around and heading towards the fang again. This time, since it was so much closer to her, she knew she could get there before the demon-man could.

Diva felt the man quickly gaining on her, but she was already within a few feet of it. When he reached her just seconds later Diva tore the fang out from its burial place and ran him through the middle.

She felt herself smirking somewhat when the demon-man looked down at the fang in what she assumed was shock.

But the smirk changed to a troubled frown as he looked up at her again; his smirk had gone from one belonging to a cruel demon to that of an insanely gleeful madman. Its eyes, though no longer having any pupils, seemed wild, looking inside her as if wondering what to cut out. The perfectly pointed teeth that adorned the thing's lipless mouth made it look as if death itself was grinning at her.

"_**What? Don't like persistent guys**_?" It asked, mocking the comment she'd made after he stabbed her earlier back in the tower.

Diva tried to pull the fang out of him, to rear back for another strike; but his strange blue leathery hands gripped onto hers and kept her from pulling it out. Instead, he pulled himself _across _the blade, blood falling in huge blobs onto the old tile, until his stomach was stuck in the "hilt" and they were face-to-face with each other, the demonic man looking down at her human but still unafraid features.

The thing which no longer resembled a man looked directly into her eyes and Diva felt her own radiating blue orbs trying to retreat deeper into her skull so they didn't have to confront the thing's lifeless but still insane eyes.

Then it pulled its head back; demonic mouth opening wide while looking up at the ceiling.

For a moment it almost seemed beautiful; like an angel trying to escape from the confines of hell where it had been kept.

Then her poetic view faded as the thing's head came down and bit, in another mock of her earlier actions, into her neck. But instead of two tiny teeth going into her artery like she'd done to him, a whole row of large shark-like teeth dug their way into the depths of her neck; like comparing a vampire's bite to a werewolf's.

It pushed her weakened body away towards the pillar as if done with something which was no longer interesting; though its bloodied teeth which were still held in the big insane smile proved otherwise.

The wound in her neck was already healing but she felt the energy fading from her blue eyes; the power that had previously inhabited her body retreating like a show of resignation to the monster's obviously superior power. But Diva wasn't done yet, she hadn't lost the game _yet_.

She dashed forward and hit the thing square in the face with the "hilt" of the fang. She kept hitting its head with her hands and the blade of the fang, trading lethality for the quantity of hits she could land.

It seemed frozen by the effect drinking her blood had put on it because the thing barely even moved. Though its head moved with each of her strikes the rest of the body, including the neck, didn't move an inch.

After a few seconds it began laughing; a cruel mockery of the laugh a human gives when they're having fun.

Her attacks didn't even seem to be making it hard for the thing to breathe and she began to wonder if the hits which taxed her stamina so much were actually _doing_ anything.

The monster disappearing in another blue blur told her they hadn't.

"_**This is the end**__**!**_" It said in a rare moment of humanity, though she still heard the phrase tinged with hints of insane happiness.

Then suddenly she started seeing countless purple orbs appear about the room. They resembled the ones the man had sent at her before but they were much greater in size and quantity.

She remembered how they had almost turned her into a paste last time and made sure that none of the deadly things touched her; though she angrily noted the elongated portions of her dress were still taking casualties as the elegant pieces of fabric disintegrated within the purple orbs.

Eventually the barrage ceased and Diva dodged the last one. But as she did, the monster appeared once again, showing no signs of fatigue, and hit her into one of the few remaining pillars in the room.

However, she'd regained quite a bit of stamina since it hit her the time before and she now had enough energy to thrust the sword out at its face with ten times more force than any of its punches had…

But the thing swatted the fatal attack away as if it were a mere annoyance before bringing the same hand back towards her in a back-handed slap.

While the gesture looked like a simple little slap, because of the thing's new immense strength and the recent loss of most of hers Diva was sent flying through the last still-full pillars before she collided with the wall, barely managing to land on her feet.

But the monster was already standing in front of her and she barely even had a chance to look up at it in surprise before it knocked her up into the wall again.

Diva didn't get the chance to slide down it as the monster kept her aloft with countless bone-shattering punches. Each hit seemed like it should have gone through her and the wall but her body was resistant enough that instead it only _felt _like it. Her ribs quickly broke under the monster's assault and she felt the healing mechanism growing weaker and weaker as the seconds dragged by; showing that she didn't have much time to escape before her body completely gave out on her.

Eventually the force of the punches forced her inside and then through the wall with a huge smash.

She landed with the rest of the debris outside the building. Though she was heaving shakily while the lifeless stone seemed to lie down silently; accepting it inferiority to the demon.

Somehow she struggled to her feet and looked up at the monster that was still smirking like a demonic madman. It didn't even seem to show any signs of effort from its hundreds of punches, let alone fatigued.

Diva started limping away, holding her ribs to keep them from hurting too much. It felt like a few of them had penetrated either her heart, her lungs or her stomach but it was hard to tell what was what since they had all essentially been mashed together.

The healing capability in her body couldn't handle this. Not on its own without any fresh blood.

She needed to get away somewhere…

…somewhere where it couldn't find her so she could lie down and rest.

This game wasn't fun anymore and she didn't want to play it. Though she'd be damned if she was going to actually give up.

Her weak escape was ceased as she felt something hit one of her kidneys; the weak fleshy organ rupturing under the force of the monster's rock-hard fingers. The pain caused her to stumble forward and Diva had to turn around shakily just to keep herself from falling to the ground.

But the thing wasn't done yet. It hit her in the side of her face, breaking the cheek and jawbones with just a few well-placed hooks.

Then the thing proceeded to tear up her stomach a bit more until everything felt like it was just one big ball of flesh and bone.

Before she could fall from the strain and pain the previous injuries caused her the monster grabbed both her wrists with one hand and held her up while it continued to hit her with the other. The vice-like grip on its single hand crushed her wrists and made her hands feel like they were completely separate from the rest of her body.

Diva didn't know how much more of this she could take. Even when she was kept locked up in that tower back in France all those years ago the people there had never done this much damage to her. They'd slit her throat, cut open her stomach, pierced her heart… things that would make a human _want _to die if even if it didn't actually kill them.

She had endured things humans couldn't imagine for years on end while receiving no kindness in return.

And yet now, when this thing was turning her into nothing more than a sack of flesh filled with mixed condiments, those "experiments" back in the tower seemed almost like a lost dream.

So, after all the pain and the feeling of things in her body being where they shouldn't finally got to her, Diva finally receded.

"Okay, you win… I'm done…playing." She said with her last gasps of air.

But the thing just laughed at her and continued the torture.

She didn't know if it was her pain that it derived pleasure from or if it was simply the act of dominating and destroying something else. But she didn't care.

This sucked.

Her vision began to fade and Diva knew that she was either dying or her body was preparing to hibernate, normally giving itself a chance to heal but in this case condemning it to certain death.

The thing didn't show any signs of stopping, or at least it wouldn't if Diva still had the ability to examine what it was that she could see with her swollen eyes.

She wished the demon would go away and that the man would come back. He had been fun; though he seemed upset with her before it was still nicer having him around than this thing. Had he gone somewhere while the monster showed up? She didn't remember. For that matter, she didn't remember how she'd gotten like this to begin with. Why were her hands up above her? Why was her body not doing anything?

She didn't know what the answers were.

And after a few moments she didn't think about them either.

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Sorry Diva fans. I know that this basically just consisted of her getting abused, though I'm sure Vergil fans will be overjoyed on some level. Thanks Egnigma906 for the review. I don't know how long it would have taken me to update this if you hadn't told me that you liked it. I think I rushed this a bit, at least since I started on it again, but I suppose it's better than nothing. It will probably be a while before I update again but tell me what you think anyway please.


	11. The searching after the storm

"What…happened?" Vergil asked himself groggily as he woke up.

Immediately he noticed the absence of both his coat and the stone walls which had been protecting him from the wind, since the force was now slashing at his bare arms and his ears.

He remembered fighting that girl and how he had been…losing to her. Then he…

He devil-triggered.

At once Vergil expected to notice some strangely shaped blob lying near him that used to be the girl. But instead he noticed that she still had a very human-like form.

He shrugged.

It was predictable. For someone that had nearly killed him while he was in his human state it was no surprise she'd done better than those demonic sandworms.

Regardless, he now had a huge wasteland to travel and no one to direct him. Though the girl had seemed to either be "new" to this world or entirely clueless to its layout. So it was doubtful she would have been any help if she were alive.

Vergil looked around for a few seconds, noticing the various scattered rocks that used to be part of the wall of that building.

After a second, he found the hole in the wall of the building and climbed inside to find his coat and Yamato.

The whole place had been all-but destroyed while he was "unconscious"; no more full pillars remained in the room and there were various holes in both the walls and the floor that suggested he'd used "judgement cut", his name for the attack that resembled purple orbs, while devil-triggered.

It was amazing that the girl, as strong as she had been, was able to survive those attacks alone. And a slight itch in his stomach told him that she had even wounded him while he was in that state as well.

"And now she's dead." He told himself inside his head while looking for his coat.

"She was a strong opponent and was able to put up a fight. Regardless of whether it was near impossible to beat her, or if it was as easy as taking candy from Dante, she's dead. End of story."

Though thinking about Dante made him wonder how his younger twin was doing.

It was obvious that he'd escaped from the demon world; otherwise he would have come down as well. And since humans were so weak it was unlikely that he'd ever be in danger while living there.

That Vergil was thinking about Dante was somewhat unsettling, as they'd been enemies not the day before. But seeing as Dante had obviously been… stronger, it was important to know what his habits were.

"So I can go pummel him and reclaim my title." Vergil thought, mentally smirking.

He spotted a familiar color of blue underneath a downed pillar and walked towards it.

Their clothes had gained some of the properties of their skin from being worn all the time; the half-demon equivalent of getting your dead skin-cells rubbed off on your clothes. As a result, the clothes could actually repair themselves, though only to a certain extent.

Otherwise he and Dante, with the enemies they fought, would quickly be fighting in things resembling human swimsuits from all the damage they took.

That _Dante _took. Vergil said to himself, remembering Dante's preferred "down and dirty" fighting style.

He shoved the 1-ton pillar off of the coat and then picked it up; swatting away any debris that still remained inside it while pulling the garment on.

"Now to find Yamato." Vergil thought as he scanned the room for the demonically-forged blade.

Because the sword was related to him in a certain aspect, Vergil could actually feel it, though only in a very minute way; making it a lot easier to find than if it was just some random sword.

The sheathe would be harder to find since he couldn't feel it. Though thinking about it, it wasn't as if he had places to go, that he knew how to get to anyway.

"Perhaps I should have let that ugly snake live a bit longer so I could've asked it a few questions." He thought while walking towards where he felt Yamato was.

Truth-be-told he preferred fighting sand-worms, snake demons and freakish demon-teenagers more than walking around a desert for all of eternity.

It was almost like a purgatory in one of the human religions.

He remembered one in specific where if you showed enough faith in the god of that religion or something you would be allowed to go to "heaven".

Ironically, it turned out that "heaven" was just another world inhabited by extremely powerful sorcerers who had a taste for peace spells and kindness. It sounded more like an actual hell to him.

So he was stuck in what could be, for all he knew, the center of a sand-worm filled demon-desert with absolutely no knowledge of how to get somewhere else.

His spirits lifted when his eyes fell upon Yamato's hilt; one less thing to take care of.

Vergil stooped down to pull it up but it was snagged on something so he gave it a quick tug and threw the things which had been on top of it into a wall on the far side of the room.

Vergil looked down at the shining blade for a few seconds, almost grinning at the pleasure he gained from holding it. But then he looked from left to right in the room and noticed just how big and debris-filled it was.

With a sigh Vergil began walking around the room searching for that damned sheathe.

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I know it was short and boring. But I'll update soon. Diva fans, please don't leave yet.


	12. Eyes, bones, and action!

At first she couldn't even think; the pain was so great.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't see, feel, hear or smell.

She couldn't do _anything_, which was scary.

But it wasn't as scary as being dead.

Diva didn't feel anyone hitting her anymore either, so she assumed the demon thing had left.

"Where did that man go?" She thought to herself.

She remembered playing with that snake thing and that the man saved her. Afterwards she and the man had played but for some reason he left and that demon thing had hurt her.

"Oh well." She thought, now able to realize where she was. Until now her eyes, though she felt that they were open, hadn't been seeing anything.

But now she could see a black sky and a big building.

"Well, that's boring." She pouted while trying to move.

Diva could feel her body healing itself; the bones reforming and sliding together in the right positions while the cuts and bruises started to fade away.

She remembered how tasty that man had been so she wanted him to come back so she could get another little bite in. And she needed the blood; it felt like she'd been starved for weeks.

Where _was _that man?

That was all Diva thought about while she waited for her abdomen's various organs and ribs to get resituated.

Eventually, when her body finally felt good enough that she could walk, Diva pushed got up to her feet, brushed herself off and examined her dress.

It was all ruined; the longest portions seemed to have been cut by some large circle thing and she could feel the wind blowing at her lower legs. Not to mention there was no way half the stains were going to come out of the now almost completely red dress.

After thinking about it for a second though Diva remembered that she never wore the same dress twice anyway. So it wasn't a problem!

Diva looked to her left, then to her right.

Though she didn't have to she held a hand up above her eyes while doing so, thinking it would help because she wanted it to.

But the man was nowhere to be seen.

Diva pouted when she realized this meant she'd have to go searching for him, but her frown turned upside down when she thought of how he might be hiding from her, like a game.

She laughed at how ridiculous "frown upside down" was before she ran off looking for him.

"Ready or not... here I come!"

* * *

I know this one was even shorter than the last one but I wanted to make sure Diva fans weren't down for the count. I'll try to make it more exciting as soon as possible but it's not like monsters are going to continuously be popping up left and right. This is only _half _based on Devil May Cry after all. heheh. The next one should be longer too. Oh yeah, and sorry for the extreme lameness that is the title of this chapter.


	13. The sheDante

"There you are." Vergil actually spoke out loud.

While he was normally patient in most things, spending all of his time looking for something like his sheath had been irritating him to no bounds.

The thing had landed under the bench of the organ, which was one of the few things in the room which were actually intact.

Vergil slid Yamato across the top of the sheathe and then slid it in, snapping it in at the very end.

"Now, to get on with my eternal trek across this damned-"

"Ready or not…here I come!" He heard a very familiar voice say outside the building.

"There's no way." He thought to himself while he listened for her voice again.

He'd _devil-triggered_! No one but Dante had ever survived against him while he was in that form!

Because of how strong the wind was outside, the sound her shoes would have made on the rock was carried away so he couldn't listen for her to approach.

But he was _sure _he'd heard her.

It was obvious before that the girl wasn't human, but he'd never done that much damage to anyone before. Not even Dante.

He let out a sigh.

"There's no way she could still be as strong as before after that beating. I'll just use her weakened state as an advantage to finish her off. She lost the battle. If she tries to attack me again I'll just kill her. It's that simple." Vergil thought calmly.

It took a while, but eventually he saw a shadow step into the entranceway and he knew the girl herself couldn't be very far behind.

Vergil gripped Yamato's hilt and prepared to perform a judgement cut.

The girl, now completely healed, walked in front of the entrance and looked around dumbly for a second before finding him and smiling.

"There you are." She said, seemingly satisfied.

"Why did you come to find me again? You should have been happy to simply have survived." He said without any emotion.

She frowned and looked as if she'd been trying to remember.

"But I remember winning against you. Then that monster showed up and _it _beat me." She sounded somewhat irritated near the end, but he doubted it was for any reason other than she had lost her little "game".

Apparently the girl didn't remember it was him who'd defeated her.

"In any case, why did you come looking for me?"

She smiled again.

"I wanted another snack." She said, not seeming intimidated at all.

Vergil scoffed in response.

"Sorry, the entrees are done for the evening." He said, not letting his guard down.

The girl frowned.

"But you look like you've got plenty of blood. I'm sure you could just give me a little lick." She said while licking her lips.

This time Vergil scowled at her and her childish mindset.

She'd definitely returned to "normal" after their fight.

"I have none to spare for the likes of you." He said while letting his hand come away from Yamato's hilt.

She was no threat. Either she was too weak or not in the mood to simply attack him like she had before. And with her child-like tendencies he guessed that if she wanted his blood she would have already come and tried to get it from him.

But then… this girl was extremely unpredictable so it was possible she just wasn't in the mood.

"Why? Because I haven't dramatically jumped off anything yet?" She said, still smiling.

Vergil resisted the urge to turn the girl into Swiss cheese and turned away from her, heading for a wall in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" She asked, apparently interested.

Vergil didn't answer and kept walking.

Regardless of whether or not she was unpredictable, she _did_ act very child like.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" She said as if he was far away.

And the thing that children hated the most was-

"You bastard! Stop ignoring me!" She yelled, temporarily serious.

Vergil felt a smirk play at his lips but he suppressed it and kept walking.

She continued pouting for a bit; stamping huge cracks into the fallen-down doors in the process, until the girl spoke up in a hate-less tone.

"If you let me have some of your blood I'll tell you what I know about this place." She said with what he could almost _feel _was another of her childish smiles.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"Why should I give you blood when you already told me you don't know anything about this area?" He said, not giving in to her little game.

"I didn't say that." The girl spoke coyly.

Vergil sighed in response and turned around.

"I'll acknowledge you, and feel free to take more of that thing's blood." Vergil said, pointing to the decapitated snake demon with Yamato's sheath.

The girl shrugged and began strolling over to the snake-demon's corpse.

"So, what is it that you know about this place?" He asked, not wanting to wait for the girl to finish her predictably long meal.

"Well, I haven't been here long. But," she spoke while kneeling down to bite into the thing's "neck".

"There's a bunch of weird things here. They don't taste very good either." Then the girl started drinking from the thing.

"That's not very helpful." He said with a slight tone of agitation.

The girl shrugged in response.

"That's all I know." She said, carefree now that she'd gotten plenty of blood.

Then it hit him. She _knew _she didn't know anything about this place would be of use to him, but since it kept him from attacking her for that long she would get the chance to get the blood.

She'd seemed kind of… retarded at first but perhaps she wasn't as he'd thought.

Vergil grumbled.

Either way, she was a clever little-

"Hey! Helloooo." She said happily while waving a hand in front of his face.

The girl was definitely feeling better.

She must have used that fast-moving technique of hers to get close to him and he hadn't even noticed.

If she'd still been thirsty… he had to keep his guard up.

"Why are you pestering me?" Vergil spoke, still agitated over the thing she'd pulled over on him.

The girl frowned.

"I want a new dress." She spoke as if he was a tailor.

Vergil had gotten extremely tired of this girl. She was like a female version of Dante; only younger, more oblivious, not as perverted and she didn't swear as much.

"Isn't that nice?" He said in response before turning away.

Perhaps if he got up on one of the walls he would be able to see farther across the wasteland and check if there was somewhere else- _anywhere _else besides where this girl was.

His thoughts were silenced when he felt the bottom of his coat pulled up.

Vergil looked behind him and saw the girl admiring his coat like she was shopping in some human store.

When she noticed he was looking at her the girl smiled that carefree, childish smile of hers and rubbed the soft fabric against her cheek.

"This is really nice."

He didn't know exactly how to feel about this.

Such a strange kind of contact. It was unsettling.

After a moment Vergil simply took a step away, but the girl followed him and pulled up more of the coat; now holding most of the back in her hands while snuggling it.

"I want it." She said as if to herself, eyes closed.

"Well that's too bad." Vergil spoke up as he started to push the strange girl away, tired of this strange contact.

But surprisingly she moved away from his push, got behind him, grabbed the edge of his sleeves and pulled the coat off all in one motion.

"What the-" He said when he realized she had taken his coat from him without him even realizing she'd done so for a second.

Vergil whipped around to face her and the girl already had the coat on.

"Nice and warm." She said like she hadn't just stolen if from him.

"Give it back." He said, not amused.

She frowned and looked at him with innocent confusion.

"Give _what _back?"

"You know _damn _well what!" Vergil said angrily under his breath.

When she simply kept staring at him he narrowed his eyes.

"My coat." He said while trying to keep himself calm.

The girl looked around, as if searching for it.

"I don't see it." She spoke before walking away from him.

It took all his self-control to keep from running her through as he watched her walk away.

"Where are you going?" He asked since she hadn't shown any knowledge of this place.

The girl just shrugged while she kept on walking.

"_Just _like Dante." Vergil thought.

Maybe this _is _a hell. Stuck with someone like him in the middle of a desert, unable to kill them or get them to shut up.

Eventually he just sighed and walked in the same direction; towards the blown-in entrance.

Once he got outside, Vergil would get up on the wall and take a look around.

He didn't know what he expected to find but anywhere would be better than here, with her.

"I'll find another location, get my coat back and then get rid of the girl. Then everything will be fine." Vergil told himself, almost praying that the girl would go away.

* * *

Sorry, I'm not very good at humor, but it should be more bearable than chapter 10 for anyone who likes Diva.(or humanely treating others I suppose) Anyway, I'm not sure how long it will be until I update again, as always, it'll depend on how motivated I am.


	14. New coat, angry man and a race

She watched as the man jumped up on the wall and stared out into the distance.

Diva liked this coat; it was so warm and comfy.

Because she was shorter than the coat itself, it dragged on whatever she walked on, but that was okay.

He was still looking, though the man would look in different directions to see what was going on.

After a few moments, Diva called up to the man.

"Hey, care you going to jump off or something?"

"No." He responded in an angry tone.

Diva held her smile though since it didn't bother her.

"Don't be so tense. It's not like I stole the clothes off your back or anything."

Oh wait, she had, hadn't she?

"Yes you did!" He said in a much angrier tone, though he still kept the volume suppressed.

She simply shrugged and asked him what he could see.

"There isn't very much other than the wasteland, but I _did _see something resembling a town far off. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's better than-"

The man seemed to realize he was responding to her and cut himself off.

"I'm going to go there and see what it is. But not before…" The man disappeared in a blue blur and then she felt him behind her.

"…I get my coat back." She turned back towards him, not impressed.

"Well this is _my _coat and I don't know where yours is."

A scowl made its way on his face.

"Where did you get _your _coat?" He asked calmly.

"From you." She said happily, treating it like it was game.

"And whose coat was it then?" He continued.

"Yours."

"So then where did my coat go?" The man finished.

Diva shrugged and turned away; bored with this game now.

She felt something cut the sleeve of the coat and looked at what had done so.

It was the sword the man had used earlier, but it seemed different somehow. It almost looked a bit darker or something.

"You shouldn't do that to your own clothes." Diva said matter-of-factly.

His response was to let out an angry growl and re-sheathe his sword.

She turned back towards the man when she heard him walking away.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't stop walking as he answered.

"I'm going to the town. I'd rather be far away and have no coat than be close and have one."

Diva didn't pick up that he meant he wanted be far away from _her _as he walked away and she ran happily after him.

"I'll come with you!"

She heard him grumble something before both of them started towards the gate.

"How long can you do that technique that allows you to move fast?" He asked her while seeming to think about something else.

"Technique? Is this an old Chinese action film?" Diva asked in a way that seemed to make the man think she actually believed they were.

"How long can you do it?" He asked, apparently having no sense of humor.

Diva frowned but responded.

"A long time. Why?"

"Have you encountered any kind of demon-worm while you were here?"

"Nope."

"Well, outside this castle the whole wasteland is practically filled with sand and those worms inhabit the sand. Or rather, they _are _the sand. No matter how many of them you kill, they just come back. So we'll have to use our-" He stopped himself from giving the childish girl another opening.

"…abilities to get to the town before they can overwhelm us."

"Sounds fun!" Diva said enthusiastically.

"Just don't fall behind. I _would _like to get my coat back _eventually_ and I can't do that if it's inside the stomach of a sand demon."

"_Your _coat? I don't see it anywhere."

"That's because you're wearing it!"

She looked at the coat and then looked at him again, smiling.

"It's _my _coat now." She said with her carefree smile.

"Whatever." The man said, departing from his usual "serious and old words" style.

Then he kicked the gates open and they started towards the town.

* * *

I know it wasn't the best or(by far) longest of chapters, but I'll try to update soon. Thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited and "alerted". It's very motivating.


	15. Towngate

"I win!" The girl yelled excitedly when they arrived at the town.

"It wasn't a race." Vergil said, agitated.

"Forget the demon worms, snake-demons and the 'seven sins'. Hell, forget _Mundus_. This girl is going to make my _head _explode!" Vergil spoke exhaustedly inside his head.

He forgot about his cranial-detonation for a few seconds as he scanned the town.

Well, its _walls_ anyway. Apparently whoever inhabited this town thought that the walls would do them some good.

"Though then again, if it's made of that same substance the castle was made of it very well could." He thought.

Either way, it would be a lot safer once they were inside. The area in front of the gate to the town had a large stone slab in front of it; presumably to keep the sand-demons from spawning directly in front of it. But that wouldn't keep them from forming nearby and attacking them.

He could easily kill anything that came at him, as long as it didn't take hours for whoever was inside the gates to open it up. However, it wasn't that he couldn't keep killing the things for hours, it was simply that he had things to do and if that meant cutting down the gate and letting everyone inside the town get killed then it was just a minor annoyance.

The reverse-hourglass motion started at the edge of the stone block and he knew the things had caught up with them.

Though there seemed to be hundreds of them it didn't look like they were infinite in number. And while they could move very quickly while they were in the sand it took them a moment to decompose themselves so they could start moving through it. This was why the two of them had been able to make it here before the worms in the first place; otherwise there would have been a small army waiting.

Vergil drew out Yamato and started walking towards the largest group of demon-worms.

If they made enough noise for a long period of time then someone or something inside the town would undoubtedly come to check on what was going on.

Though Vergil didn't really think they'd be useful they'd be a hell of a lot more helpful in finding where he needed to go than this girl was.

"Are you ready?" He asked her, hoping she wouldn't start an entire conversation in response.

Surprisingly she didn't say anything at _all_.

He glanced back at her and saw she was preoccupied with something on the gate.

"Utterly _useless_!" He yelled in his head.

"I suppose I should be grateful she's not trying to _pet_ them!" He grumbled while getting ready for the first strike.

Vergil didn't know why it was that he cared if she moved or not. It wasn't as if he required her help to kill these things, and if she got hurt or killed the coat would just heal itself and he would be short a cause for a heart attack.

The last part was untrue of course. Half-demons like him simply didn't have heart attacks. Though after meeting this girl he almost desperately wished they _could_.

Vergil swiped Yamato in a horizontal arc, bisecting at least a dozen of the ugly creatures with little effort.

He looked back at her and saw that she _still _wasn't moving.

Vergil exhaled and tried to focus on the battle.

There was no reason for him to think about her. His objective was to find Mundus. To do so he would require information on where he was. And to do _that _he would need someone or something to _tell_ him that information. So he was going to kill these things and enter the town. That was all that mattered.

He sheathed Yamato, cutting through another worm's extensive stomach while doing so.

A few of the bolder worm-demons sprung towards him, trying to bite into him with their needle-like teeth.

He felt a few lunging at him from behind too.

So Vergil waited until they were close enough for him to smell their thick, rubbery skin before he snapped Yamato out of its sheathe, spun around in a 180 degree turn and then swiped the sword down.

Time seemed to slow as he started to drag Yamato across the top of the sheathe. The worm demons made no noise and were suspended in mid-air like demonic puppets.

Then he snapped the sword in and time reverted to normal; the worms exploding in a blast of sand.

The girl was looking up at what appeared to be a crest of some kind and Vergil took a moment to look at the thing himself before one of the demon-worms hopped up into the air towards her, bearing its teeth.

It bothered him.

His hand that would be used to draw Yamato out of its sheathe twitched, as if wanting to go towards the hilt of the sword. It was the faintest of suggestions that his mind whispered to him, but, for an amount of time humans couldn't even count themselves, he actually considered killing the thing so it wouldn't attack her.

"What's going on?" He asked himself, honestly not knowing.

His thinking was interrupted when there was a sound similar to when something punctures a skull and he noticed that the girl had barely moved. Her hand was up in the worm-demon's mouth and it was suspended in mid-air.

But the thing didn't seem to be chewing on her hand, or moving at all for that matter. The girl, who hadn't even bothered to look at the thing, simply grabbed something within the disgusting thing's mouth and tossed it into the one that was closest to her before the hand came back casually to her side.

"Hmph." Was all Vergil said to acknowledge this before he began attacking the worms again.

He didn't really stop to look at her after that and she could have been attacked by a hundred worms or none for all he knew.

What Vergil _did _know was that when he turned around towards the gate after he heard someone on the top of it, was that the girl was still standing there, staring at the crest.

"Hey, who are you?" The person yelled down to him.

He definitely seemed to be human, though that raised the question of how he got down here in the first place.

Vergil had never heard of a human successfully making it to the demonic world. Let alone one that had survived long enough to be part of a town.

Perhaps he was just a demon in human disguise. But why would he have a disguise down in the demonic world?

"I suppose it doesn't matter." Vergil concluded in his head before he responded.

"I'm here to find out where Mundus is." Vergil said up to the "man".

He seemed to instantly be taken aback by what Vergil said but regained himself.

"Mundus?! But you know who that is don't you?" He said in a tone similar to a local's when they tell the main character about some haunted or evil thing in a child's book.

One of Vergil's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Do I know who Mundus is? He rules over this entire world and you're asking me if I know him?" He said up to the man as if he were an idiot.

Which, according to Vergil, he was.

He grumbled something before speaking up again.

"Well you look human enough. We can't turn our backs on our own kind." Then the man looked around in the air, as if seeing something no one else could.

"Not down _here _anyway." He said before moving out of sight to, Vergil assumed, open the gate.

"Dramatic." He commented to himself, though he rarely did so.

"At least he didn't jump off the wall." Diva said, teasingly.

Vergil gave her an icy glare before closing his eyes and pushing down the urge to make her smile a bit wider by way of Yamato's blade.

"Just ignore her. Childish people hate to be ignored." He told himself in his head.

Then the gates began opening and he opened his eyes, looking forward as if he was looking at Mundus himself.

"Here I come, Mundus."

* * *

Short considering how long it's taken me to update but even though I've lost the inital motivation I had with this story I _am _still trying to do a good job with it. I'd like to get the story moving quicker but if Mundus just happened to appear in a small village in the demonic world that would be a bit unrealistic(which is kind of ironic considering it takes place in an unrealistic world.) Enough of my rambling. I'll update as soon as possible.


	16. Endtour

"I'm going to _kill _her." Vergil thought for about the millionth time this hour when the girl continued to try and get him to play ridiculous games.

When he wouldn't play with her, she would pout and then go and try to get someone else to play with her. Of course she had come up with her own strange games that no one, if they'd actually wanted to, could play her games because they didn't know how to play them.

The man who had opened the gate for him led them around town, showing them the various areas as if they were actually going to stay here.

The only reason Vergil hadn't just commanded the man to tell him how to find Mundus was because this was the only area around where he could actually talk to its inhabitants. And if he tried to tell the stubborn creatures to help him that might be reason enough for them to not want to.

The supposed logic that humans followed was absolutely repulsing.

Still, it was amazing that they had managed to survive this long in a world of superior beings. Merely how they had gotten here was something Vergil was interested in, though he would never allow the humans to know he was interested in something their species had done.

The foolish little cretins actually thought that he was one of them.

His lack worthy companion was running around, pointing out how cute she thought this snake was and how much that spider had been.

She seemed utterly immune to any form of outside interaction.

"Though I suppose in this case it's understandable since she would be interacting with _humans_." Vergil thought.

All in all, she could have been worse. Though the girl seemed dull or at the very least oblivious at least she wasn't _weak_.

Vergil almost smirked.

Compared to anyone but _him _at least.

Though he admitted she'd even given him a "run for his money" as the humans would say. While he was in his human form anyway.

At first the other people had asked him what was wrong with the girl. As her resembling a teenager apparently meant she was expected to act differently than someone younger than her.

He'd just ignored them mostly, wanting to get this little tour over as quickly as possible.

They'd already shown him the housing area, the food building and the bar. Which humans seemed to find necessary in any establishment they created.

How they got that foul-tasting tonic they called alcohol here in the demon world was something that Vergil neither knew nor was interested in.

There was only one place left and it was also the only place he was concerned with; the command building.

Since these humans had such frail bodies they had to rely on technology and tactics to succeed in their battles.

Not that tactics weren't useful; if one simply charged blindly forward, trying to do nothing but claw at the enemy, they were little different than an animal.

But the humans depended on technology and planning entirely too much. When they eventually created something that could think itself the most likely scenario would be that the humans would be eliminated.

"The arrogant little things. If they hadn't discovered technology they would have become extinct long ago." Vergil thought derisively in his head.

Then he shrugged, though so minimally it probably wasn't even visible to anyone.

There was no point in dwelling on it. They would be killed off eventually and that would be that.

Now he should be thinking about more important things; like how he would kill Mundus.

Just as Vergil started to elaborate in his head, however, they arrived at what was obviously the command building and he mentally sighed at his relief that his time with the humans was coming to an end.

"We don't have very good weapons, but luckily the stuff this place is built out of keeps those worm things from getting in." The man said, apparently finishing something he'd been talking about earlier.

"Does your leader know how to find Mundus?" Vergil asked the man as if he had never spoken.

"I don't know. The rest of us don't really pay attention to stuff like that; too busy trying to stay alive. The boss though, he might know where you can find that… thing."

The two guards at the door, who held those guns that the humans seemed to find so useful, opened it for them.

The door itself had been much bigger and thicker than the others, but the inside revealed that this "command building" was simply an area where the people with more power than the others could go.

Not that there was anything wrong with that; those with power should be treated better than those without. And they were, that was the way the world worked.

Once he and the girl stepped inside the building he noticed an immediate change from the darker and almost sewer-like look of the rest of the town. Though there was a lack of materials in this demonic desert with which to build a wooden building, this building's corners were straight and the walls looked much stronger than the flimsy little ply board huts that the others seemed to live in.

There was a long table which must have come with the humans when they arrived here as it seemed to be sculpted from wood.

Various pictures were hanged in the middles of walls to try and fill the house with some kind of memory, as if they still lived in the human world. But there were so few pictures that, like the humans' hope, they lasted only a few walls.

All of this was unimportant to Vergil though, because the only reason he'd entered this miserable attempt at a building was because he had hoped the leader would know where to find Mundus.

His eyes widened slightly, however, when he saw a child chase another through the various rooms of the building.

That children could survive in the demon world was quite unexpected and he honestly believed for a second that they were a kind of succubus; intended to draw in others who thought they were lost children and then bite them.

This of course was ridiculous as pretending to be an attractive man or woman usually got more "catches".

"'command building'". Vergil reiterated in a mocking tone.

It was merely a tyrant's home.

Soon a man; broad both in shoulders and in chest size, descended the stairs of this single two-story home.

He was obviously the leader of this little town and looked as if he had been in the humans' "military".

His hair was cut short and he wore slightly baggy but still efficient clothes that had a dark-blue hue. His pants, which were still blue but also combined in a pattern of grey and black, were tucked into his black boots. On the shirt there was a rectangle with a name inside it; "Torman".

Vergil scoffed inwardly.

Why was it that all these names always seemed too plain or tough tacked on?

Vergil shrugged in response to his own question before walking over to the man.

"Well I'll be damned. Another human down in this shit-hole? Who'd of thought?"

Vergil didn't know if the man was asking an actual or rhetorical question, and he didn't care.

"Do you know where Mundus is?" He asked without an inch of casual tone in his voice.

The man's face hardened, as if he was being serious now.

"Yeah, I do. But it'll be hard to just tell you. Let's go into another room. I have map there."

Vergil nodded.

"At least these military people know how to get to the point." Vergil thought to himself in rare moment of comparing humans to anything approaching bearable.

The man started to turn, but stopped when he saw the girl.

"Is she your girlfriend?" He asked, seemingly out of a feeling of commitment.

"That's right. Social contracts. That's all they live by." Vergil thought, his previous almost praise-like thoughts quickly disappearing into his well of hate.

"No."

"Sister?"

"She is a stranger." Vergil said, starting to get agitated.

"Then maybe she should go do something else. Something more…" He couldn't seem to find the right word.

"Woman-like?" Vergil asked, having quickly gotten mad.

These humans were all inferior; _equally _inferior. A change in skin tone or hormones didn't make anyone less inferior than the others and yet it had taken humans hundreds of years simply to acknowledge this fact.

"Apparently, like everything else they do, there's still some progress to be made." Vergil thought, wanting to spit.

Then the girl, either not having heard what the man said or not caring, spoke up.

"I'm going to go play with the children." She said while running after them in a similar way in which they were chasing each other around.

"She's like a kid." The man said as if it hadn't already been evident.

"You have no idea." Vergil spoke in one of the few conversational responses he had ever given humans.

The two continued towards whichever room it was that held the map.

As they passed a room Vergil saw the girl had caught up with the children and heard her say something before he went into the final room.

"Come on, let's play together."

* * *

More boringness(from my standpoint anyway) But anyone who know's Diva... I'l try to update soon.


	17. Exit

"So that's how you get to where 'Mundus' is." The man said seriously, though putting a strange emphasis on the word "Mundus" as if giving the demon king a name was strange.

"Of course, humans aren't willing to accept that anything other than them can have names unless they themselves name the things." Vergil thought.

Though he'd been thinking this way so much he was starting to get a headache.

They'd spent about ten minutes "talking", namely the man asking him questions to which he had to respond to as Vergil seriously doubted this man would give him the information he wanted if he just put Yamato to his throat.

Eventually the man, evidently out of questions, had showed him a map on a large writing board.

It was obviously created after the humans had arrived in this world as it lacked the finesse of most of the humans' maps, but he could tell how to get where he needed to go, so it was acceptable.

From where they were now, he would have to go back across the desert, though in a different direction, until he reached some kind of arctic region before reaching where Mundus supposedly resided.

It seemed his fortress or whatever it was had a kind of ring of terrain surrounding it for hundreds of miles. The "ring" consisted of a blood-freezing arctic area, a burning hot desert, a stormy mountain, an unstable series of tunnels and a murky ocean; essentially, the demonic world's version of geographic barriers.

Truth-be-told, Vergil would have preferred the stormy mountain as a certain annoying girl had stolen his coat, but it was better than walking around this wasteland for the rest of eternity.

"Which direction do I head towards after I leave this town?"

"You know, it's kind of been bothering me. How did you manage to survive with just a sword? And how did you get here so fast? We have a wall-patrol that revolves every ten minutes; no normal guy could come out of nowhere and made it to the gate that quickly." He said skeptically.

This man had been irritating the whole time; asking him why he did this and how he did that. Vergil was reaching his limit and he fully intended to simply tell the man he wasn't human when a strange song lilted into the room; a familiar song.

It was sung absolutely beautifully, almost as if luring whoever listened to it into a trance which would lead them mindlessly towards the song's origin. And yet it somehow felt so… sad.

Vergil recognized it well; the very same song had carried him up the steps of that tower towards the girl when they first "met" and it now seemed to call out to everyone that heard it.

"Who's that?" The man asked, probably expecting it to be something demons did to lure in humans. Though that wasn't far from the truth.

"It's her song." Vergil said, actually allowing himself to sit back and enjoy it.

Now that he was in good shape his human side was able to fully enjoy the song, while his demon side kept him from following the song's tune back to its waiting source.

The other man, however, did not have the same advantage, and followed the song out of the room.

Curious himself, Vergil got up from his chair and followed the song as well. He was almost right behind the man and noticed him freeze when he spotted the girl… and the kids that she'd been "playing" with.

One of them lay on the carpet, staining the white portions with his blood.

While the other one was held in her embrace, still close enough to her face for her shrinking fangs to resemble the size of the two holes in the child's neck.

Both of them were dead, but appeared almost as if they were sleeping.

A small amount of blood clung to the edge of the girl's lips, which were formed in a satisfied smile that didn't seem to realize what pain her drinking had caused to the man who was most likely their father.

Though then again, who cared how a human felt?

The girl meanwhile seemed just as he had remembered her when seeing her for the first time in his dream-like state.

There were various descriptions someone could give her, though it really depended on your perspective. But from his point of view she resembled an "angel" from "hell".

Most humans seemed to find that poetic on some level, but he'd luckily never had such emotional connections to descriptions.

"Mmm. Delicious." She said like a child would after having a favorite meal.

"You- you- what the _hell _did you do!?" The man yelled with that disgusting tone of hurt that humans put into their voices sometimes.

She regarded the man by looking at him, but didn't answer.

"Where is the 'tasty man'?" She asked him as if he were a servant.

He shook his head stupidly before Vergil exhaled.

"Don't call me that." He spoke up.

The girl seemed to favor him somewhat but he didn't particularly care.

Vergil was no one's pet, and he wasn't going to abide a pet name.

When the man stepped out of the way, looking at the two of them in shock, the girl smiled and let the child drop to the floor as she ran over to Vergil and held his arm.

"Come on. Let's leave." She said happily, though the girl seemed as bored with this place as Vergil was.

While he hated being told what to do, in this case Vergil agreed enough to not say anything as they started to leave the house. Though he did still shrug her off him.

"Wait! You think I'm just going to let you get out of here after killing my _kids_?!" The grief-filled leader yelled after them. But they didn't even dignify him with an answer.

They got to the door and Vergil brought his foot up to knock the door open, though because of his demonic strength the door was instead blasted off its hinges and flew yards away before crashing into something else.

He fully expected for the hole town to be gathered outside, intent on killing them. But he quickly realized that they had other things on their minds.

Strange demon-like creatures with red eyes and beastly appearances were running around town, attacking the inhabitants of this pathetic little shamble of buildings.

The humans fought back but whenever they shot the creatures the bullet-holes soon healed and they responded by killing the shooter in a rather graphic way.

"What are these things?" Vergil accidentally thought out loud.

"My children. Close enough anyway." The girl responded in a rare moment of maturity.

"Where are we going now?" She asked him, now with a child-like tone again.

He sighed.

Vergil should have known he wouldn't be able to get rid of her that easily.

"Well, if you absolutely insist on coming with me then you'll have to fight when I tell you to." Vergil said, already regretting his decision to allow her to come along.

"Fine." She said absent-mindedly, though with a kind of pout.

"So… where are we going?" She asked again, this time more assertively.

Vergil gripped a hand into a fist as he spoke.

"_We_…" He spoke as if to torture the word.

"…are going to find Mundus so I can kill him and become the king of this world." Vergil finished.

The girl nuzzled against his shoulder, something that caused him to scowl.

"Stop doing that already." Vergil said, trying to push her off with his free hand.

But the girl wouldn't let go until she batted open an eye and saw something that interested her.

Finally letting go of him, the girl ran over to the thing she'd recently noticed and picked it up.

Then she took the coat off and threw it over to him. He caught it with one hand and looked at what she was doing.

The thing she had found; a dress that someone had apparently been working on was draped over a bench while the girl took the dress she was now wearing off.

Vergil looked away while putting on his coat and when he turned back to her she just finished getting the new dress on.

The previously blood-stained garment had been replaced by a long white dress with small frilly light-blue decorations at the end of each sleeve and at the very bottom of the dress, which was ankle-length. The person had apparently been working on the collar as it was still far from reaching the girl's neck.

For a moment he considered leaving on his own, but then when he spotted a large gate down the street from where the girl stood he knew she would find him before he could get away.

One of the heirs to the great warrior Sparda's bloodline, able to fight great demons without so much as a bead of sweat, now hesitant to try a and escape from a strange girl? How low he had fallen.

She pulled her long hair out of the dress and then came back over to him as he started towards the gate.

Though it would be somewhat hard to find the correct area without an actual map Vergil knew the general direction that he needed to head towards so this was acceptable.

With the childish strange vampire-girl walking alongside him, he made his way to the gate and kicked it open as he had done to the other door.

Then, as the reverse-hourglass formation began he and the girl began moving quickly towards the arctic area and Mundus' location.

* * *

Here's an update. Tell what you think if you'd like. As long as it isn't a flame. But of course, constructive criticism is welcome.


	18. Arctic archway

"No. We are _not _there yet." He responded for about the millionth time.

This girl…just…never…gave up! And he doubted she was even that stupid, it seemed as if she was just testing him to see how much he could take.

If was for this reason that he had put up with it this long. But eventually he just told her to be quiet.

She just grinned and looked forward, towards where they were walking; they had already made it past the desert.

The two places were blocked off by a wall with demonic runes in it which were probably meant to keep it from eroding or freezing from the conditions it was subjected to.

Getting over it had been easy. It just took a jump and they were already on the other side. But the drastic and immediate change in temperature was almost like a physical wall as they landed on the snow-covered ground of the other side.

Wind sailed past them and blew the white flakes up from the ground, making the girl hop away when some of it blew up into her legs, evidently making them feel much colder than the girl preferred.

Though he should have gotten some satisfaction out of seeing her react like that to something after she'd been bothering him the whole time, Vergil had felt nothing.

After that they'd continued a ways before the terrain started to rise up. The two of them had continued following the rise and they now almost seemed to be at the top.

"Are we there yet?" He heard a whimsical voice say slightly behind him.

Vergil closed his eyes and at that moment, wished he was dead.

Why hadn't he killed this girl already? There was absolutely no reason to keep her around. So why was she still alive? Let alone traveling with him?

As much as he'd wanted to tell the girl off before or simply just sever her head from her neck, Vergil's words and actions had always stopped at the source.

For some reason, he didn't want to kill her or get rid of her.

"It must have something to do with my human side. How sad it is that my metabolism can't heal the injury of being inflicted with the human condition." Vergil thought before sighing.

There was no point in complaining. It wouldn't help anything.

The cold conditions were enough of a nuisance without his thinking to get in the way.

"Are we there yet?" He heard her ask again.

"Buddha, Hades, God, Satan, Zeus, Allah, the guy with all the arms, one of you _do _something!" Vergil screamed in his head, knowing none of them were real, yet wishing they were so they could make this girl disappear.

"What do you think?" He asked her, hopefully "throwing a wrench" in her plans of continuing this infinitely-irritating cycle.

But then the land stopped rising and both of them looked at their new surroundings.

They seemed to have reached the peak of a cliff or mountain, as he could see down at least a few hundred feet. In fact, there was only about another half a foot before a ice spiked out at the cold empty air.

Had he been human, this would have been the equivalent of a dead end.

But, luckily for him, he wasn't.

So, after looking down below where the ice jutted out from and seeing that despite the shear distance there was between him and the ground, it looked perfectly safe.

Vergil looked back at where he estimated the rock ended and the ice began, and unsheathed Yamato, cutting through the thing as if it were wet paper, before he re-sheathed it in the same moment.

The ice slid forward for a second, before it began to fall.

He noticed the girl step on the falling ice as well before it started its full-speed descent towards the snowy ground far below.

She leaned against him, as if holding on for support. But he knew she was simply doing it because she knew the contact bothered him.

Or perhaps she was just cold.

Either way, he didn't like it.

But Vergil again found it impossible to simply shove the girl off the falling ice-elevator and he was forced to abide the uncomfortable contact until the ice was within a few dozen feet of the ground.

Vergil jumped off the ice, feeling the demonic world's gravity pushing against him as he kicked off the now-useless piece of ice.

The girl was still holding onto him and the fact that she wouldn't let go even when they were in the air just made the contact that much more disturbing.

They landed in the snow a yard or so away from where the ice would land and she got off him just as the thing crashed into the ground; cracking into several pieces.

He continued walking as if it was normal, despite how dramatic an effect the falling ice piece had been.

The girl walked near him, her dress dragging along the snow as she did so.

Vergil had seen a suitable clearing for them to take a break a mile or two ahead.

Though he wasn't tired both his boots and his coat were beginning to freeze over, and since he didn't have anything else to wear, these clothes would have to be kept in as good condition as possible.

"We're going to stop for a while once we reach the clearing." He told the girl, not bothering to look back as he said so.

Though there were several yards wide of space to walk in, far above the sides of other cliffs hung over this pathway, as if arches that lead to a gate of some kind.

Though that was probably just a dramatization it was impossible to tell, as demon's built all of their structures from the natural materials around them so it was quite possible they were actually intended as arches.

At least the wind's force was lessened down here; a cold breeze drafting through the mile-long "archway" as opposed to the full-scale assault that he was subjected to on top of the cliff.

His collar had protected his neck, but his ears and face were not so lucky.

Though the girl probably had even worse luck.

Vergil scowled at his own thought.

Who cared how she felt? It was unimportant.

That's what he told himself anyway.

What the hell was happening to him? He'd never even considered how someone else felt before except when gauging his opponent's fatigue in a battle.

Why was he finding it increasingly difficult to get angry and her? Sure, his wrath could still scare small children into comas, but it was lessening bit by bit.

He _had _to find out what was going on. Being this way felt… strange.

Ahead the archway of cliffs broke out and the clearing which he'd seen before on the cliff was coming closer and closer with each step he'd took.

Apparently it had been even closer than he'd thought.

After walking a bit longer they made it to the clearing, and Vergil scanned it for anything possibly useful or, however minor, harmful.

It didn't really look that demonic; the clearing's ice walls stretched up and up until they reached the receded cliff which poked out, forming a kind of protective ring far above that helped keep the snow and wind at bay. On the exact opposite side of the clearing another "archway" of a passage and cliffs overhanging it stretched as far as he could see.

He regarded it with a thought somewhat like a sarcastic "oh, good" before walking over to side the snow was blowing from and kicking away the snow where he intended to sit down.

Because he was underneath the cliffs and the snow was blowing in the direction he was facing, it wouldn't fall on him, at least not yet.

Vergil had finished pushing away a decent amount of snow and sat down, leaning Yamato up against a shoulder as he calmly closed his eyes

Moments later, soft footsteps crunched through the snow towards him and he opened his eyes to look at their source, though he already knew who they'd come from.

The girl was staring down at him with a rare monotone facial expression and he wondered for a second what it was that she was thinking.

Her hair and dress were blowing, despite how much the wind had lessened down here.

Vergil almost found himself staring at her before closing his eyes again and scowling once again at whatever his human side was doing.

"A pity I can't simply cut the thing out, it being part of my mind as opposed to my body. Otherwise I'd be much better off." He thought.

Then the footsteps began crunching an approach towards him again and he wondered if the girl was intending to get another "snack" despite the fact his blood obviously wouldn't stay in her body; evidenced earlier when it had forced her to throw it up.

Though the girl probably didn't even care about that, she simply wanted something "good" to drink.

Regardless of the reason, the Vergil snack bar was closed for the lifetime.

But he was surprised when she sat down next to him and leaned against him.

He sat there for a moment, not even able to fully understand what was going on before his anxiety made him push her away.

Vergil had simply intended to shoe the girl he didn't want her on him. But apparently she hadn't expected him to resist her because instead of simply moving away she was shoved into one of the clearing's ice-walls; her head knocking against the hard ice and making a cracking sound.

His body started to press forward, wanting to move towards her though he hadn't told it to and he honestly felt lost.

He didn't want the girl near him, being that close.

Nor did he want to care about her well-being in any way shape or form.

Yet that annoying urge to move towards her was enough to pierce right through his hate and logic and he had to force himself to keep from moving.

The girl simply pushed herself up, not seeming to be angry at him, and sat down where she was, her eyes showing sadness that he somehow didn't find disgusting in the least.

Blood had come from an already-healed cut on her forehead and had dripped down a bit before freezing.

Not knowing what to do, Vergil simply closed his eyes.

He made an attempt at resting, but it was mostly just an effort to keep himself from feeling bad.

* * *

For those who are upset with Vergil's feelings or whatever you wish to call them, I promise the reason will be made clear soon. I give a special thanks to everyone who's given me reviews,(and by extension both motivation and advice on how to make the story better) favorited and alerted about this. And another thanks to those who are simply still reading this at all. I'm honored that I could give you something you enjoy. I will try to update soon.


	19. Icefall

Something cold landing on his nose woke him from his unintentional slumber.

Vergil's eyes flickered open and he gazed out at the cold clearing which now resembled a snow-filled cavern since the sun had fallen.

Moonlight filled some of the cave with a soft white light and Vergil knew he'd been asleep for quite a while.

"Perhaps a kind of natural trap of the environment; it lures those who travel through it into sleep and then freezes them while they lay immobile and defenseless." He analyzed.

Though it was also quite possible he'd simply fallen asleep on accident while trying to forget about the girl.

At that thought he looked over at her and saw her curled up, head tucked in beneath her arms and her dress pulled out as far as it could so her limbs would have something to protect them from the cold.

Of course with how cold it was the protection the thin fabric awarded her probably amounted to something around zero.

Her hair had also been brought around a bit to cover her neck and- why was he even bothering to examine what was going on?

She was alive, as evidenced by her breathing. Therefore, her condition was unimportant.

"…Damn it." He thought while standing up and gripping Yamato at the same time.

Luckily for them, the snow had just begun falling in their direction, so they weren't buried in snow.

The girl was still sleeping and the thought of simply leaving her here faded in and out of his mind much quicker than it should have.

Simply sighing now he walked over to her and told her to get up.

Her eyes slowly slid open and then she looked up at him.

He had fully expected her to flash him an icy glare or something similar, but she instead smiled contently and pushed herself up, brushing any snow off her dress and pulling her long black hair behind her.

He looked at the archway opposite the one they'd come from, and then began walking towards it.

Crunching behind him told Vergil she was following him, though at this point he could already feel her near him anyway.

"Extra-sensory abilities?" He asked himself inside his head.

Or perhaps he had simply been with her long enough that he could predict what she was doing.

Regardless, they continued walking and soon passed the first "arch" and entered the icy corridor-like path.

As they walked further and further down the path the girl began humming her song to herself and he found himself listening as well, almost tripping in a mound of snow since he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking.

There was much less snow down here than there had been up on the cliff, but it was still easily higher than his ankles and there were larger amounts of it here and there.

But it was a much more welcome hindrance than those sand-worms had been. Their breath alone had been enough for him; it reminded him of the smell a corpse gave off after it had been baking in the sun for a few days.

Remembering the smell made him swallow, as if removing something that smells so bad you can actually taste it.

Now that he examined this path more closely though he discovered that it appeared much harder than the icy walls of the previous path had been. It was almost like they were made of some sort of demonic diamond.

The moonlight, not as all-encompassing as sunlight, managed to just barely get through and form a thin line of light which led the two of them further and further towards their destination.

"Why are you following me?" He asked her out of the blue.

She stopped humming and he could feel her giving him a curious expression.

"I'm not sure." She said in a much more subdued voice than usual.

"It feels like I should, so I am." The girl finished.

He waited a few seconds and realized he'd opened himself up to a question.

"Why are you _allowing _me to follow you?" She asked with the same tone, though she seemed genuinely interested.

What bothered him most though was that he felt like he should respond.

Everything about this girl seemed to draw reactions out of him that he hadn't felt for a very long time. The extent of how uncomfortable this made him feel couldn't even be described.

"… _I'm _not sure." He responded, irritated that he didn't know why he himself was allowing the girl to follow him.

Vergil just wanted to stop feeling strange, as this girl was making him feel. He wanted something, anything, to take his mind off this. A demon, a human- hell, _Dante_!

"What's your name?" The girl asked him.

Luckily, he wasn't forced to answer when the ground beneath them began to rumble.

At first it was little more than an unpleasant feeling underfoot. But as time went on the rumbling turn into trembling, which in turn became shaking.

Soon it felt like an earthquake and Vergil could feel the cliffs high above loosening from their rocky perches.

It was unlikely the slabs of ice would do him very much damage, but it could take forever to get where he needed to go if he was buried under hundreds of pounds of ice.

So he "tricked" forward and continued doing so.

As he did Vergil felt the ground far behind him tear open and the sound began coming on in a continuous stream; liked something was traveling through the earth.

"Finally." He thought, relieved.

At least now he'd have something else to focus on.

Ahead the path ceased and there was another clearing, though there seemed to be something else on the opposite side as opposed to a continued pathway.

The girl was right behind him and though they were moving fast both of them knew that whatever was coming after them was gaining on them.

There was only a hundred or so yards until they reached the clearing but they didn't have that long.

So Vergil stopped moving and whipped around towards the thing, putting a hand on Yamato's hilt as he did so.

He couldn't see exactly what was coming at him because of the huge amounts of ice and snow that were continuously being bashed out of the way by the thing's approach, but it didn't matter.

Yamato's sheathe began to glow purple and then he unsheathed the legendary sword faster than a human could see and tore holes in the space in front of where the thing.

"Judgement cut" sliced through whatever was coming at him and made it stop momentarily, thrashing about in what was obviously pain.

But he didn't have time to see what the thing looked like before he had to turn around again and continue towards the clearing.

The girl was already there and looking at him, apparently interested in what he was doing.

Vergil performed one final "air trick" and teleported into the clearing, landing on the ground with a soft thump.

"You really have a flair for drama don't you?" She asked him teasingly.

Why the hell couldn't that thing have been tougher? If it had then he wouldn't once again be subjected to this girl's constant bothering.

The thing that had been "swimming" through the ground finally stopped thrashing and burrowed out of sight.

"Is it gone?" The girl asked, somewhat interested, when they could no longer hear anything but the wind.

A few seconds later, something erupted from the ground behind them and in front of where they were headed.

"I suppose that answers your question." He responded while watching the thing claw its way out of the hole it had just made in the frozen ground.

Though most of it was still under the ground, at first glance it resembled something between a weasel and a polar bear, though at least a hundred times larger.

Instead of massive paws with small claws like a polar bear's the thing had long but narrow paws with hooked claws that were easily as long as the girl was tall.

The front of its face looked very weasel-like, though it had the muscle of a polar bear's. The teeth were long and slightly curved at the end while the back of its head looked more like a polar bear's than a weasel's.

The "Wolare" for short snarled at them as it pulled the rest of its long body out of the hole.

The body was almost completely void of any polar bear qualities; being long and thinner as opposed to shorter and thicker.

Though he supposed what it looked like was irrelevant, since he was going to just kill it anyway.

"How cute." The girl commented on it, smiling that childish smile of hers again.

Vergil closed his eyes to help suppress his irritation, and then opened them again, staring at the monster.

It shook itself like a dog would to get water out of its fur; though it was ice and snow that was being thrown from it, not water.

"Why don't you go pet it?" He asked, a type of humor that humans called "sick" in his mind as he spoke it.

The girl shrugged and then walked towards it, still holding that smile.

The Wolare brought up a paw and swiped its hooked claws at her.

But she disappeared in an after-image of blue and then reappeared close to it, petting its matted fur.

"That's not soft at all." She commented, apparently feeling let down.

The Wolare reared back and kicked out at her.

The girl hadn't expected this and barely managed to avoid being cut in half, though one of the claws' tips still nicked her cheek.

She landed behind Vergil again, touching the already-healed wound and brushing the blood off her cheek with a casual stroke.

"No fun." She pouted.

Vergil scoffed in response and walked towards it, unsheathing Yamato.

The Wolare's attention changed to fix on him and the thing prepared to claw at him as it had done towards the girl.

But Vergil was in no mood to play with it so he simply cut the claws as they approached him; the equivalent of a half-demon nail clipper.

Though much more painful.

The thing fell back in agony; crashing into one of the ice walls as it collapsed.

Vergil swiped Yamato before dragging it along the sheathe and snapping it back in.

After that he began walking towards what the thing had been blocking them off from.

It appeared to be some kind of gate; the thing was carved out of the mountain itself.

An easily twenty-foot tall and fifteen-foot wide stone doorframe squared two large stone doors. Both of which were encrusted with more demonic runes like the wall that had seperated this area from the last one did.

He didn't know what they were meant to do and didn't care.

Vergil prepared to cut the things in half, when the Wolare whom he'd thought was immobilized sprung at him.

It was an unexpected move, but also a useless gesture; Vergil simply flipped up into the air, cutting through the Wolare's neck while doing so, and landed on its back much like he had done to Beowulf back in Temen-ni-gru.

However, when she sheathed Yamato, a single geyser of blood erupted from the thing's neck as opposed to its head falling in pieces to the floor.

Still it had more or less the same reaction, falling face-first to the cold hard ground as he landed gracefully next to it.

The girl walked up to him and put a hand up in the air, sticking her thumb out horizontally; like a Cesar would to decide a gladiator's fate.

Then the thumb pointed down and the girl laughed at how ridiculous her gesture was.

Vergil just brushed her off and looked back towards the gate.

"You have bad taste. That was sty-" Vergil cut off his thinking at the realization that he had responded in such a way; even if it was just thinking.

He tried to get his mind off it while going towards the gate, but the Wolare started thrashing on the ground.

Either it wasn't dead yet or it was in its death spasms.

Regardless of the reason, he felt the ground underneath him give and Vergil air-tricked away, to stable ground.

But one of the Wolare's paws, which was ironically the one he'd stopped from hurting himself earlier, whacked him back into the hole.

He kept falling until he could no longer see the top, though something else fell in as well.

"Not again." Vergil thought; mentally commenting on his bad luck relating to dramatic falls as he continued his descent towards who knew where.

* * *

Sorry about the constant falling here and there, I'll try my best to keep him from jumping off the world itself. heh. The questions that some of you probably want will be answered in the next chapter. Thanks again to everyone who's still reading this. (Especially those who review, alert and favorite it.) I should be able to update soon but I'll see what I can do. (Also, I'll try to make my writing more descriptive.)


	20. Reason for feeling

"Curse this world and all of its severely high places!" Vergil yelled under his breath as he forced himself up.

Because he had been in prime condition when he fell it had only hurt like hell, but that was more than enough to irritate him to no ends.

After a few more colorful comments on the layout of the demon world he looked at where he had landed; there wasn't much to observe.

It was an extremely small little cave, only a yard and a half wide and long.

The walls were the same diamond-like ice everything else had been and what he stood on was the same, though it felt more hard than cold.

"Well at least this can't get any-" Vergil was cut off as he saw a shadow approaching from above him.

He brandished Yamato but it was too late!

He was crashed down into the ground as something fell on him.

Two hard things pressed into his healing ribs and he wondered if that thing could actually fit in here.

"Impossible. But then…" He thought while looking up to examine what had knocked him to the ground.

His eyes saw a girl's chest and then a smiling face.

"Someone kill me." He muttered out loud as he gave up trying to move, now able to tell that the hard things pressing into his chest were the girl's shoes.

"Hey, what are you doing down there?" She asked him, teasingly.

"You _knocked me down_ you insane buffoon!" He yelled at her.

She gave him a surprised look, though he knew it was put on.

"Did I?" The girl asked him while trying to keep herself from giggling.

He closed his eyes, spent.

"I'm going to count to three. Then you'll disappear." He stated, firmly believing it now.

"One" She was still there.

"Two" Still.

"Three." Then he opened his eyes and the girl was still looking down at him, though now she looked at him like there was something wrong with him.

His boots fell to the side and he looked up, yet not seeing anything.

"Damn." He said, blandly.

The girl tilted her head, looking at him with interest.

"Get off me." He said, normal again.

"What's the magic word?" She asked him in an annoyingly childish tone.

"NOW!" He yelled at her.

She giggled in response.

"Nope!" She laughed at him.

He struggled for a bit, but couldn't get her off of him.

His right arm twitched, as if wanting to hurt the thing that was denying him what he wanted; denying him the _power_ to doas he wanted.

The right arm suddenly wretched up, briefly becoming demonic, and hit the girl into a wall.

Vergil quickly sat up and shook his hand, but it was already human again.

His hands curled, as if showing how much he was straining to keep himself from looking at her and making sure she was okay.

But this was one battle he couldn't win, and, slowly, his head started to look up at the girl.

Her head had hit the diamond-hard walls and there was still a blood stain on it, though her head had already healed, and a much longer stain of blood was frozen on her face opposite the one that still clung to her forehead, frozen.

She still didn't seem angry at him, only looking mildly sad instead.

"Why do I even care?" He thought.

After a moment he realized he'd thought that out loud.

The girl looked at him, no particular expression on her face.

"Why do I even care enough to look at you?" He asked, now knowing full well he was speaking out loud.

She looked back at the floor, her sad expression deeper.

"I don't know." She said, no humor at all in her voice.

"Ever since we fought I've actually cared about what happens to you, and it's increased as time went on. It's not natural. I know that much."

She continued looking at the ground and a few moments of silence passed before she spoke up.

"If someone drinks my blood, they become my chevalier; my knight. They have to care about me, have to protect me… their blood tells them to do so."

His eyes widened at the realization.

While he was in his demonic form he'd drank her blood. His demon state, coupled with how little of her blood he'd actually drank, must have made it take longer for whatever was in her blood to take effect.

"Which means…" He thought to himself before running over to her and slamming her back up against the ice wall.

A cracking sound told him her head had broken, but it would heal quickly and he was too furious to care now anyway.

"… _you're _the one who did this to me!" He yelled out loud.

She still didn't look angry, or surprised either. She simply held that near-monotone expression as if there was no one in her mind.

"You're the reason I have these disgusting feelings! Caring about how you feel, about your health, about what you're doing! All those ridiculous human emotions! Change it back!"

She simply looked away from him but his other hand grabbed her and forcibly pushed her head up again.

"Take back this weakness!" Vergil could feel his demon side just itching to come to the surface, but this was _his _anger; _his _problem.

And he would fix it on his own.

"I can't. I don't remember you drinking my blood anyway." She said quietly.

For a brief moment he was confused but then he understood, though it didn't help quench his hatred.

It had been such a painful or traumatic memory that she couldn't even remember it.

"Then how do _I _change it?!"

She shook her head and Vergil realized that he had been beaten.

By attacking her because of how angry he was at feeling things for her he had succumbed to hatred; an emotion

He didn't know what to do but somehow felt himself unable to hold her up against the wall anymore and his hands came down to rest at his side.

Vergil walked over to Yamato and attempted to penetrate the ice-walls with it, but even Yamato's unbelievably sharp edge couldn't make it through the diamond-like hardness of the ice walls.

"It being nighttime must change them." He thought blankly before allowing Yamato to clang back on the ground and letting himself slide down against the wall, landing quietly on the floor.

After a few moments he reached under his vest and pulled out his amulet, looking into the shining red stone in the middle.

At that second he immediately regretted Dante not being here.

The two of them hadn't gotten along since they were small children but even when they were fighting each other things made a kind of sense. Whatever was going on, whatever problems they had, the things were forgotten in their battle

Now though, he felt lost. His goal to defeat Mundus and become the king of this world paled in comparison to just how confused he was.

He felt for the girl, which was a weakness.

He couldn't fix that weakness. Nor could the girl.

His only response to that weakness was to give in to his anger; another weakness.

For someone like Vergil, whose whole world revolved around power, having no choice which allowed you to be stronger was the equivalent of the deepest pit of despair.

And yet to be in despair was a weakness in-of itself.

"Pretty." He heard a voice above him say.

He looked up and saw the girl gazing at his amulet.

"It is, is it?" He asked rhetorically in a monotone.

The girl sat down next to him and continued looking at it.

"It reminds me of Saya." She said, seeming to seriously remember something she liked.

Vergil's gaze didn't shift from his amulet as he asked her who "Saya" was.

"My big sister." She said longingly.

"She stabbed me and I died, so I ended up here. I miss her." Her tone was sad now.

"You miss her even though she killed you?"

The girl shrugged lightly.

"I've forgiven her for that. I just want to see her."

He gave no response to that.

"Do you… have a sibling?" She asked, seeming as anxious with this manner of talking as he usually would be.

"A little brother. A twin, actually."

"Really? My big sister's a twin too."

"Hmph." He said, almost smiling sadly and feeling a strange humor.

"How ironic. You have an older twin sister while I have a younger twin brother." He thought out loud.

"What's his name?" She asked with a strange kind of curiosity.

The red stone briefly had an image of his brother in it, though it had to of been his imagination.

"Dante."

"Do you miss him?" She asked in the same tone as before.

"I…" He wanted to say "absolutely not" but that wasn't what he was thinking and he wasn't going to succumb to another weakness by being ignorant.

"I suppose I do."

Vergil began to feel tired, his confusion taking its toll on him.

"What's your name?" She asked, seeming tired herself.

His eyes began to narrow and he could feel sleep approaching.

"Vergil."

His hand started to stray back down to his chest, no longer having the strength to hold the now-heavy piece of metal aloft.

"Yours?" He asked sleepily as his eyes fully closed.

"Diva." She responded. He sensed just a bit of happiness in her that he'd asked.

"Mm. It suits your singing." He spoke before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Well, now you know why Vergil has feelings(on a level) for Diva. I know it probably doesn't make it any easier but this is setting up yet another sub-plot which is important for Vergil's character. Though that doesn't mean all the following chapters will simply be angst. In fact, now that I've gotten this out of the way it's quite likely there won't be that much for a while. Anyway, I'll update as soon as possible. Reviews and everything else(except flames) are appreciated as always.


	21. Final destination

Most of him felt cold.

But as Vergil awoke for the second time in the cave he noticed that some of him felt warmer than the rest.

After opening his eyes, which blinked a few times because of the sun which was starting to filter into the cave, he saw why.

The girl, Diva, was lying against him.

A happy sleeping expression was on her face as she breathed softly against his chest.

Apparently he'd moved from sitting up against the wall to lying down while asleep.

Her face lay on his chest while the rest of her was curled up next to him trying to use the heat that was coming off him to keep her warm.

Diva's right hand lay on his chest as well and for a moment he felt strange, but then the "chevalier" thing kicked in and it no longer bothered him.

Though being affected by something he didn't want to was irritating, at least he didn't feel strange about the contact anymore.

After a few more moments of waiting Vergil realized he had just tried to make a bad situation positive; a human trait.

"Regardless of my response, I lose. Either I feel strange, her being close like this. Or I have something influencing my thoughts without my permission." He thought to himself while waiting for the sun's rays to shine into the cave more.

As it was now he couldn't reach the softer portions of the wall which looked much more like ice than the walls in the shadows did.

Her hand tightened and she leaned into him more; making his mind describe her as something he'd never thoguht of before.

Humans called it "cute" but he'd be damned if he used one of _their _words.

So he spent the next few minutes coming up with his own word before Diva's eyes slowly slid open to look up at him.

However, instead of her moving off him as he'd half-expected half-wanted her to, she hugged him tightly.

When Diva noticed he wasn't responding as much as she'd wanted him to she frowned.

"What're you thinking about?" She asked, mildly upset.

Vergil had been in such deep and continuous thought as to how he would find a new word it was almost as if he had asked himself the question.

So when he responded "I'm trying to think of another word other than cute." Vergil instantly became anxious at the realization he'd answered out loud.

The girl smiled again.

"Who are you calling cute?" She asked, teasing.

"N- no one!" He yelled, on the defensive.

The girl got off him and giggled, making him even more anxious.

"Stop giggling! Stop it this instant!"

His last sentence just made her laugh harder, making Vergil feel just that much stupider.

"Damn human emotions. Absolutely no help at all." He said angrily inside his head.

After that he pushed himself up to his feet and walked over to Yamato and its sheathe; picking them both up.

The girl stopped laughing and looked at him with interest.

Vergil looked up at the light on the walls which was gradually filling up the small room more and more.

But they'd been down here long enough and this was getting… boring was the only word he could think of.

"Time to go." He said out loud, knowing that despite his preferences it was to prepare Diva.

She brushed the snow off her dress and walked up next to him.

Then the two used their unique way of moving quickly; Vergil air-tricking while Diva after-imaged, to get up to where the sun was already on the walls, and Vergil thrust Yamato into the softer wall.

As expected, it gave little resistance and soon Vergil was standing on Yamato.

Diva was absent he noticed and for a moment he felt amused, thinking he would hear her land on the ground below any second now.

But when the only sound he heard was a voice calling down "Hey! What's taking so long?" to him from above Vergil felt himself going insane.

"Lost to a little girl." He mumbled to himself before air-tricking up and pulling Yamato out of the wall at the same time, landing with a flip on the ground above.

Diva was already looking at the gate, which had fortunately not been covered by a landslide as the rest of the area had.

Most of the clearing, including the "archway" they'd come through was covered in piles of ice and snow that had fallen while the Wolare was thrashing on the ground.

Speaking of that thing, it was definitely dead now; the huge creature lying in a heap exactly where it had fallen down before.

Either it had died from the wound Vergil gave it or the wound had made its body unable to contend with the cold conditions of the area.

Regardless, the demon was no longer a threat; how it had died was unimportant.

He walked towards the gate, casually slashing the doors in half with Yamato as he did so.

Then when he reached the gate Vergil kicked the space where the doors met and the various pieces of it flew outward; flying into a perfectly white sky.

Vergil had to look away and bring up his arms to protect his eyes from the unnatural brightness of what was obviously Mundus' inhabitance.

After a few seconds he was able to look out at the location, despite him still having to squint his eyes for a minute.

The sky, as he'd already observed, was pure and shining white.

The sphere up in the sky, which could have been either a moon or a sun, was black. Though everything was still somehow illuminated.

A massively wide and tall tower jutted up into the sky, seeming to go through the strangely dark grey clouds and connect the ground with whatever that black sphere was.

The tower, he noticed, was the polar opposite of Temen-ni-gru.

It had no broken portions and was perfectly cut into four clean sides.

Every hundred feet or so there were decorations such as gargoyles and other elaborate spikes coming off of the tower's corners.

Though the top of the tower couldn't be seen since it rose above the clouds the tower seemed to become smaller and more pointed near the top.

The whole thing was made of what resembled black obsidian, while the endless stretch of marble tiles that filled the rest of the acres of this area was white.

"Like an angelic tower from oblivion or a demonic tower from bliss." Vergil thought, mentally commenting on just how glorified Mundus' idea of an area was.

"A demon that believes themself a god _would _have taste for this kind of scenery." Vergil thought out loud, mentally smirking at just how pathetic Mundus was, despite his status as the king of this world.

"Too bad he doesn't have diplomatic immunity." He thought in an arrogant manner similar to Dante.

After all, he owed it to his brother to include him in this even if he couldn't be here.

Vergil just knew Dante would have loved to fight with the prince of darkness.

"But I don't require his, or anyone else's help." Vergil once again thought out loud, though he hadn't noticed.

"If my father did it, I should be able to do it too."

* * *

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter. I'm not completely sure what I want to do next, but I figured I might as well give you all what I had now. Thanks for the reviews(four in one day! _I'm _psyched!) I want to make the next chapter really good since it'll be the twenty-second one and I have a kind of affinity for numbers that reflect themselves.(11, 22, 33, etc.) That being said, it may take longer to update than usual. It all depends on how motivated I am.

By the way H-bomber, I can't really think of an answer to your question other than to reply with "Behold the power of Sparda!" Ridiculous impersonations aside I suppose the reason I'm able to do so is because I don't worry about the quality of my chapters(though I still put a lot of work and thought into it I just don't stress over them). But my biggest reason is because I have the reviews, favorites and alerts everyone's given me to inspire me to do more. I'd probably still be on chapter 10 or whatever if I hadn't ever gotten any sign that people liked this story. You are all the vital stars to the life bar that is my inspiration... I'm going to leave now before I get any lamer.


	22. The dark knight

"Finally." Vergil exclaimed as they managed to reach the base of the tower.

It had taken them at least half-an-hour to get here despite them using their fast-moving techniques the whole time.

Diva seemed worn out, though there was no way to tell if she actually was, or if the childish girl was just trying to get attention.

A glance aimed at him from behind her bangs told him it was the latter.

He sighed.

"What a 'high-maintenance' girl." He remarked in his head.

Vergil sighed again as he realized this damn chevalier thing was going to make him talk to her.

"You need to take a brake?" He asked, inwardly furious to be asking the question at all.

But the childish smile that she regained which became increasingly more desirable as time went on was enough of a reward for his effort.

"Nope!" She said happily.

He closed his eyes and began thinking about a strategy to make it to the top;where Mundus would most likely be, as quickly as possible.

"We would be better off simply scaling the outside of the tower. It will go faster and most likely be easier-" He was cut off as a loud crashing sound clamored and he looked forward, seeing the girl standing in front of the now-destroyed entrance doors of the tower.

"Ready or nooooooot! Here I cooooooome!" She said at a volume that probably alerted the whole tower to their presence.

Then she looked back him; that oblivious, carefree smile on her face.

"What were you saying?" She asked gleefully.

Vergil exhaled.

"It's not important now." He said as calmly as possible.

"What's wrong?" The girl asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

He was taken aback at her expression and found himself wanting her to stop looking like that.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He said calmly, belying a tone of actual worry.

But his strange worry turned into burning hatred as he realized the girl had simply put on the face to see his reaction.

Her childish and now-mischievous smile returned and she ran away from him into the tower.

"Great. Now on top of fighting my way up thousands of feet worth of demonic tower and fighting the current king of this world I have a strange vampire-girl who thinks we're playing tag."

Diva really was the hardest thing to put up with in this world.

Though he supposed it could be worse.

He could have had to put up with _Dante_.

Actually, Vergil would have already killed himself if he'd had to put up with Dante.

"How he was before our last encounter anyway." Vergil thought, remembering how Dante had been in their last confrontation.

Vergil followed the girl into the entrance hall of the tower and looked around.

The inside of the tower seemed to be made of marble as opposed to the obsidian appearance it held on the outside.

The whole area was designed as if it were a grand ball room, though it was all black marble as opposed to the usual rich colors that were in expensive rooms.

There was a large fireplace, trophies, busts and other symbols of achievement or grandeur decorating the room, but they too were made of black marble.

High up in the middle of one of the three-story walls was something etched into it.

"Primo equus palam inferus mundus." It read.

"What does that stand for?" Diva asked, looking at the phrase as well.

Then things began forming out of the floor, walls and even high above on the ceiling.

As they fully formed and began lumbering towards them Vergil immediately noticed what they were; hell prides.

"First level of underworld." Vergil responded to Diva.

"Mundus; such a traditionalist." Vergil thought, berating the demon-king's choice to make the first level of his tower like a "circle of hell".

Vergil scanned the room and spotted a staircase behind a group of hell prides. At the top he saw a strange-looking room which he assumed would be the "hell lust" room.

On the "up" side, this meant that twenty-one floors worth of the tower were probably simply inhabited by the different hell-sins.

On the "down" side it meant this would be incredibly uninteresting.

He didn't like uninteresting.

So instead of wasting his time fighting all the prides which would, for all he knew, just respawn, Vergil "judgement cut"ed the area in-between the hell prides standing by the stairs; disintegrating them and making a path all at once.

After this he air-tricked over to the stairs and ran up them.

Diva was already right next to him and she seemed equally bored with this as he was.

This room was designed extravagantly; boasting a massive bed in the middle and various other sex-related things around the room.

A similar phrase was also spotted up on a wall, except this time it translated as "Second level of underworld".

Originally he had planned to simply air-trick up the stairs of each level of the tower. But even that would take too long for his taste.

So Vergil once again performed judgement cut. However, instead of targeting the group of hell lusts that appeared near the stairs, he tore open the space of the ceiling.

He repeated this five more times, aiming higher and higher each time as he did so, before sheathing Yamato and air-tricking up to the next floor, using its floor as a stepping stone to jump higher.

He continued with this until he eventually reached a room which didn't seem themed around any of the "sins".

The material of the room was hard to determine; the smooth flat white stone that the large area consisted of didn't have any unique characteristics.

"But then again I'm not here to judge his taste in building materials am I?" He asked himself mockingly.

Another stair case, made of the white stone and only a few feet high, led to a sort of stone bridge which was actually just a long neatly-cut slab of the white stone. It was the only way to walk over to the other side, which looked like a carved gateway, except it didn't lead anywhere.

Below the bridge was just a swirling black and purple fog which led somewhere Vergil doubted he wanted to go.

Up the steps and along the stone bridge, all the way to the fake-gate there was a purple carpet which seemed out of place and yet belonging there at the same time.

Vergil blunk once, confused that there was no way to proceed forward. Or rather, upward.

But when he finished blinking there was a man on the bridge near the "gate" who hadn't been there before.

He had a long white, form-fitting overcoat which had purple cuffs and a low purple collar, both the same color as the carpet.

Underneath the overcoat he wore a "vest" of thin plate-mail; bright silver without a scratch on it.

His white pants were neither tight nor form-fitting and were as clean as the onvercoat and white stone they resembled.

Knee-length very-dark purple boots and crimson-red gloves finished the outfit.

The man was pale, though not unnaturally so, and had silky-black hair which was long enough in the back that it descended behind his back but was much shorter in the front.

The hair was parted in the middle and a few bangs hung down in front of his forehead.

He had a face which showed a serious personality; a near-neutral frown complimenting eyes that stared down at Vergil as if he were both an ant and a worthy-opponent at the same time.

His eyes were amber, almost yellow and seemed kind of like a were-wolf's eyes, except lacking the animalistic frenzy in them.

There was a very out-of-place choker on his neck that almost looked like a dog-collar.

The buckle on it was an elaborate "M".

Vergil laughed, knowing who it was now.

"So, you must be the 'dark knight'." He spoke, already thrilled at how much of a challenge this would be.

* * *

Sorry for both the lack of quality and length of this chapter, despite how good I wanted to make it. Though now that the "dark knight" has been revealed it should be an interesting plot point for some of you. I also know what I want to do in the story from now on for quite a while, so it is very likely that I will be updating at least a few times a day(well, night for most other people. heheh) If I get at least three reviews tomorrow(technically today, since it's already the 20th, just real early.) then I promise to, by noon the next day, post at least three chapters. (actual ones please. not just "review" and that's it. Though saying you like the story is more than enough. As long as it's input of any kind.) I know it's an underhanded way of getting reviews but even if I don't get any I should still have at least two more chapters done in the next few days. Thanks to everyone who's still reading this.


	23. The Dark Slayer vs the Dark Knight

"You are the intruders I take it?" He spoke to Vergil as if they were commanders on a battlefield.

The two looked at each other, like a swordsmen's version of a standoff.

"We are." Vergil responded.

"In the name of lord Mundus," He said in a business-like tone as his left hand moved behind his back, under his overcoat and gripped something at his waist.

Then the arm pulled something downwards, a sliding metal sound echoing through the room as a blade became more and more visible.

After a second or two the sound stopped and the dark knight's hand flipped the sword, holding it right side up.

"All intruders must be eliminated."

Then the two lunged at each other, clashing swords at the base of the steps.

The man's sword was of western design, though it was much shorter than Dante's Rebellion, being about the size of a normal sword and having a black pommel and hand-guard; the latter curving into spikes at the tips.

The handle, which had material weaved across it like a katana, was white, as was the blade; though there was still a distinctive metal sheen to the blade.

The two revolved around each other, stopping when they were on opposite sides of where they'd started, and then with a grating sound the two of them and their swords separated.

"'Dark knight'; the general of the demon-king's army, tasked both with eliminating his enemies and preventing attacks on the king's home at the same time. Only the greatest warrior in generations is appointed the position." Vergil remarked on the title's meaning.

The "man" didn't respond, instead keeping his sword raised, ready for Vergil if he should attack.

"It doesn't have the same grandeur of 'demon king', but I suppose I'll accept the title until I destroy Mundus." Vergil finished.

He thought he saw just a flash of a smirk go across the "man's" face but Vergil wasn't sure.

Whether he thought Vergil could kill Mundus or not was unimportant, Mundus would die by his hand, and that was all there was to it.

"Hmph." Vergil murmured before running towards the knight again, clashing swords as they'd done before.

However, this time instead of staying in the clash Vergil continued; spinning around the "man" until he was behind the warrior and bringing Yamato down towards the dark knight's spine.

But instead of a stumbling, bleeding victim falling away Vergil's eyes saw the dark knight's sword come around to his back and block the attack; forcing the sword away and slashing out at Vergil himself in response.

He back-stepped the attack and used Judgement Cut on the dark knight, expecting him to now have a crater where his chest and stomach used to be.

Again though he was surprised when the "man" actually _cut through_ the purple orb; grazing Vergil's chest through his vest in the process.

Though it barely did any damage and didn't hurt that much Vergil was briefly stunned that the dark knight could have gone through his most powerful attack so easily.

The dark knight stabbed towards Vergil, using his shocked state as an advantage.

But though he'd been surprised Vergil wasn't going to just stand there and get impaled.

He put a hand on the dull side of Yamato's blade and knocked the sword past him, causing the dark knight to lose his balance.

Vergil followed this by once again trying to slash at the dark knight's back, but it was also once again knocked away; though this time the dark knight didn't counter attack since he had to use the moment to roll away and bring up his guard.

The two rose, still looking at each other, and got ready to fight once more.

The tense moment was interrupted however, when someone let out a long, loud yawn.

The two looked over at Diva, the yawner, who held a severely bored look on her face.

"You're boring." She remarked to neither of them in particular before looking around for something to do.

"There's a doll hidden in the room. Go find it." Vergil said, absolutely furious that she had so rudely interrupted their battle.

She yelled out in glee before running somewhere else to begin her search.

The dark knight didn't seem phased at all by Diva's childish behavior and brought his sword arm under the other, bowing slightly.

Vergil didn't know what he was doing for a moment but found out just in time to roll out of the way as the dark knight seemed to instantly slide across the floor, slashing out in a strike that put a huge hole in the wall behind where Vergil had just been.

In response, Vergil sheathed Yamato quickly before sliding past the dark knight, unsheathing Yamato and cutting through the warrior as he did so.

"Rapid Slash"; a technique that moved past the opponent and slashed through them a hundred times while passing was very useful, especially when the opponent hadn't seen it before.

Vergil turned back towards the dark knight, who was still standing looking in the opposite direction at where Vergil had come from.

Then, to Vergil's now-minimal surprise, turned back towards him, both the wounds and cuts in the front armor repairing themselves.

"He's certainly worthy of the position." Vergil thought calmly while observing his opponent.

It was slim but there was a chance he might have to devil trigger to win this fight.

Unexpectedly, the dark knight sheathed his sword behind his back and concentrated.

Vergil prepared himself for what he knew would be some kind of special attack.

The man's eyes opened again, now ghostly blue-white.

"Phasma Concido." The dark knight spoke as several ghost-like swords appeared behind him, pointing down.

After a moment they pointed at Vergil and began firing in rapid succession at him.

Vergil air-tricked past the first set and then cut through the few that were still in the air before landing on the ground.

"If that's the best you can do I would suggest choosing a different profession." Vergil spoke, a smirk tugging at the edge of his lips.

The dark knight continued looking at him with those eyes, and summoned more swords, the spectral blades aiming at him as the other ones had.

Vergil shrugged lightly and prepared to cut all the swords down with Yamato when the dark knight disappeared in a blur very similar to Vergil's when he air-tricked, except it was a purple haze left behind as opposed to a blue one.

His eyes widened in shock and Vergil scanned the room, looking for the elusive warrior.

A sound behind him told Vergil that he had been caught in a surprise attack.

He whipped around towards the demon-warrior but didn't have enough time to air-trick out of the way as the swords fired at him.

Vergil was forced to haphazardly cut through the swords that flew at him but a few made it through his defense and punctured him right between the ribs and shoulder-blades.

The swords continued flying through the air; dragging him through the room until he was pinned to a wall by the ghostly little bastards.

His head had been knocked down when he collided with the wall so when Vergil saw a shadow approach him he was sure it was the dark knight.

As he looked up though he saw it was Diva.

"You're losing." She stated with a smile as if it were a game.

"And _you're _not helping. So don't judge my progress." He grumbled.

Diva shrugged and looked from side to side.

"Where's the doll? I'm tired of looking for it." Diva said, a frown on her face now.

"It's in your-" Vergil ceased his angry retort when he got an idea and though he tried not to, a tiny smirk formed on his face.

"That guy over there has it." He said, looking at the dark knight who stood non-moving but for his breathing.

His eyes had returned to their normal color, which most likely meant he was done sending those swords at Vergil.

Diva became excited again and after-imaged over to the dark knight, though she did little more than block his view.

"Where's my doll?" She asked the surely-confused knight.

It was enough of a distraction for him.

Vergil tore through the swords and air-tricked behind Diva, stabbing through her into the dark knight.

However, he wasn't finished yet. Vergil withdrew the sword and sheathed it, performing a judgement cut at his opponent.

As expected, the dark knight could be seen blocking it. But Vergil performed another Judgement Cut, catching the dark knight by surprise and knocking his sword from his hands in the process.

After this Vergil Rapid Slashed the wounded opponent and stopped in mid air, puncturing through the back of the warrior's spine before pulling the sword out and allowing the enemy to stumble away, geysers of blood coming from his innumerable wounds.

The enemy picked up his sword and brought iit up to defend himself but Vergil threw Yamato's sheathe at the sword, weakening the wounded warrior's defense for the final blow; Vergil hitting his enemy's sword hard enough to launch the dark knight backwards into the gorge filled with the black and purple smoke.

He didn't even scream as he disappeared in a blue flame.

Vergil sheathed Yamato dramatically while looking down at the strange moat of darkness and thinking about how good of a fight it had been-

Right before getting swatted in the back of the head, nearly toppling over the railing and following his previous opponent.

Vergil looked back at Diva angrily.

"You ruined my dress." She said in a pouting manner while looking at the red stain where his sword had gone through her.

He looked away from her, towards the "gate" that now had a strange bluish-white portal in it; the same color that both the dark knight's swords and "death flame" had been.

"Be quiet. You can always get another one."

Diva hugged his back tightly, almost making the bones creak in response.

"Yay! You're going to buy me a new dress!" She said just a bit _too _childishly.

"I didn't say that." Vergil spoke while looking back at her, seeing that sad expression on her face again.

He grumbled something unintelligible before sighing.

"Fine." He spoke in a loathing tone.

She didn't seem to notice the tone and hooked an arm around one of his, half-joining him and half-pulling him towards the portal across the bridge.

* * *

When I looked at my mail today I was almost dumbstruck simply by how many reviews there had been. Thanks for that, I'll try to do more than three chapters, though I'm not sure exactly how far the night will take me. Either way, I promised to do three chapters before noon if I got three or more reviews. I got the reviews so now you get the (at least) three chapters.

These are answers(responses) to the questions or things H-bomber said in the (many!)reviews.

ch 1, Yes, I know it's very close to the game. Actually I wanted it to be that way(mostly because I love that scene. heheh) ch 2, Yes. "Crash" was one of the things Vergil would say when he devil-triggered(last encounter only) as well as "This is the end". ch 6, now that I reread it I guess it _was_ rather obvious. ha. ch 7, if you don't mind telling me, what was it that you wondered about what Vergil thought? I'm interested. ch 22, technically Sparda's full "considered title" is the "Legendary Dark Knight". In this fanfiction I treated it as if it(dark knight) were a title that was passed on or simply possesed by different people. Such as how Mundus may not have always been the demon king, yet he holds the title now. As for the order in which you review my chapters, personally it doesn't bother me at all, though you must be able to read stories differently from me as I find it somewhat difficult to get the whole plot if I read things out of sync. Actually, I'm just grateful that you've reviewed so much. If you're willing to comment on every chapter then it's just that much more obvious that you like it. I'm glad you do. On to chapter twenty four!


	24. The coup

"What is it with you women and taking forever to get ready?" Vergil commented on how Diva was still cleaning her shoes, using the wetness of the demonic portal to help remove the marks she'd worn into the top of them while running around the room looking for the non-existing doll.

"How's your coat doing?" She asked teasingly at his reason for waiting to go through the portal.

"Erm, Fine." He grumbled while secretly trying to make it seem like the sword marks had already disappeared.

Diva giggled in response as she was finally satisfied with the state of her shoes.

The portal in front of them, which was obviously the only way to proceed further up the tower, was still glowing and swirling as much as it had five minutes ago when it "opened up".

Evidently, defeating the current dark knight was the key to opening the portal.

"Like one of the humans' 'video games'." Vergil commented, once again finding Mundus' style ridiculous.

Though he supposed it didn't really matter; as the "demon king" would soon be dead.

"Let's go." Vergil said while walking through the portal calmly; Diva following behind him, eager to see what was on the other side.

The room, which was obviously the top one as it's ceiling had a hole in it that let the black sun/moon shine through, had various decorations around it.

The symbols of various religions were changed; such as an upside-down rotting crucifix for the Christian religion, a broken rusted star for the Jewish one and a skeletal crying Buddha and others were all defiled in some other way, as if to show that the gods, spirits and other things had no power here.

This was fine by Vergil as he didn't see any sign of a Yamato that was upside down or in bad condition anywhere in the room; and that was the only help he would require.

There was a single massive white throne which sat below the hole that allowed the black light of the sun/moon to enter Mundus' room.

Mundus himself, though, seemed to be absent.

"The coward probably fled." Vergil remarked out loud at the demon-king's absence.

"Fled? From what would I flee?" A strange voice echoed throughout the throne room.

"A half-breed and a chiropteran?" It asked, mockingly.

Though Vergil didn't know exactly what "chiropteran' meant the "half-breed" comment was going to earn Mundus a pointy piece of metal impaled through something he would miss.

"Perhaps. But then again, I'm willing to assume it would only take half the strength of the previous Legendary Dark Knight to defeat the likes of _you_." Vergil retorted.

"Oh, is Dante here? I thought you said there was a presence in this room at least half as strong as that piece of excrement demon."

Vergil scowled.

"At _least _half as strong?! You-" Vergil ceased his thoughts.

Mundus wouldn't win.

"If Sparda was excrement, what would that make you? A Nat's bile?"

"Enough rabble. It is long past your time to die."

"What? Do you know of anyone here as strong as Dante who could accomplish such a task?" He asked, wanting desperately to smirk.

A hand stuck up in the air and he looked over at the black-haired girl.

"I could!" Diva said happily.

Vergil scoffed, wanting to remind her of when he'd mangled her while in his demonic form.

"Someone who would _try_." He spoke, starting to lose his temper.

Diva's hand lowered and she looked at the floor, upset there wasn't anything to do.

"I will crush both of you and hang your defiled bodies up as if they were wind chimes."

Then three red orbs burst into the air above the throne.

Diva pointed up at them gingerly.

"Tennis balls!" She remarked happily.

A loud roar shook the room.

"They are _not _tennis balls!" Mundus growled.

"Tennis balls are usually a yellowish green." Vergil responded to Diva's comment on the glowing red spheres in the air.

She shrugged before lowering her arm.

"I'm tired of this." Vergil stated while unsheathing Yamato.

The orbs pulsated and glowed, then three balls of condensed fire blasted outwards, and then towards Vergil; making dodging to the sides or back-stepping the attack impossible.

But Vergil had no intention of running away and instead air-tricked through them; appearing next to the glowing orbs without a scratch.

Vergil swung Yamato at one of the orbs and they lined up behind each other to block the strike.

He didn't know exactly how he was supposed to kill Mundus when all that was present was his avatar but perhaps if Vergil weakened the orbs Mundus would be forced out of hiding.

Vergil continued swinging at the orbs while in the air, not sure if he was doing any damage to them.

Eventually the orb in the far back slid out after they blocked his attack and whacked into him; knocking Vergil out of the air.

He landed on the ground after a flip and glared back up at the orbs which twisted and revolved in the air as if taunting him.

"Stop using your avatar to fight, Mundus! Come out and battle me yourself!" Vergil yelled up at the things.

"Why fight you like that when this is so much more amusing?" The arrogant demon-king's voice spoke throughout the chamber.

Vergil's eyebrows rose momentarily before he sheathed Yamato and it began to glow purple.

However, instead of entering the stance he usually did to perform Judgement Cut he twisted Yamato in the air, flipping the sword and its sheathe elaborately before assuming a different stance, still holding Yamato in its sheathe.

Now though, a black smoke began emanating off of him and his eyes glowed faintly with a yellow light, similar to the color of his eyes while devil-triggered.

Then his eyes flared and he unsheathed Yamato thousands of times faster than he did with his usual Judgement Cut.

The pure-black orbs that represented his "avatar" cut into the red ones which actually _were_ Mundus'.

The red orbs cracked and Mundus' voice could be heard echoing throughout the chamber; yelling in agony.

"Hmph. So you _can _be harmed while only your avatar is present. Isn't that interesting?" He asked rhetorically, a small smirk on his face.

Mundus yelled in fury before the red orbs flew at Vergil.

He rolled out of their way, but the orbs stopped in mid-air and once again flew at him, this time Vergil being unable to dodge them.

The orbs struck him and were in contact with him for only a moment before he was blasted away, but in that single moment Vergil felt more pain than any other time in his entire life.

It was as if the attack set fire, spilled acid and cut into every single cell of his nervous system all at once.

Vergil landed on his back, for once not breaking his fall with an elegant flip.

"You okay?" Diva asked him with no particular tone.

"Be silent!" He yelled at her with a rage fuelled by the aftershock of pain.

Diva actually looked bothered by his response despite him being angry had never upset her before.

"What is wrong son of Sparda? Are you too weak to continue fighting?" Mundus gloated.

Vergil's wrath-filled sneer was replaced with a somewhat-maniacal grin as he looked up at Mundus; showing his blood-stained teeth to the demon king in a most unexpected expression

"What? After a little bit of pain? It barely even damaged my body." Vergil said with a strange kind of humor in his tone as he forced himself up to his feet; his pain only giving him more energy now.

"Hmph. You may act conceited now, but that attack, while truthfully not doing damage to the body itself, destroys the mind of the person simply with the pain it causes. Because you were only in contact with my avatar for a moment the pain was bearable. But with each second that the orbs stay in contact with your body the pain will magnify until you are unable to even think."

Vergil laughed at the long-winded demon.

"What is there to worry about then? You will not be capable of hitting me with that a second time so it is of no concern to me."

"You _have _grown stronger since falling into the demonic world. No doubt the demon side within you is responding to the atmosphere of its lost home. However, I have observed your travel from your fall from Iudicium cliff, the place where you fought your brother, to your victory over the dark knight mere minutes before you arrived here. And you, despite your efforts, now have the exact same weakness Sparda exhibited.

Vergil's eyebrows furrowed before his eyes widened at the realization of what Mundus meant. His blood boiling its objection to Mundus' desire even as Vergil's head looked away from the orbs; towards Diva.

"Move!"

* * *

"Original" Vergil fans may not like that but... well, that's the story. heh. I also wanted to apologize. While H-bomber has given me the most reviews there are others as well and I forgot to thank them last time. To show just how sorry I am I will allow you to read further... You're welcome. ha. The next chapter may take longer than the others but it will definitely be up before noon.


	25. The demon king

Diva barely seemed to notice him, but saw the orbs coming at her.

He saw them hit her, but she had suddenly become blue.

For a second Vergil was confused but when he saw her land on the ground a few yards away he knew she'd avoided the attack.

However, the orbs flew at her again and though she kept dodging them by after-imaging Vergil knew they would eventually catch her.

And because of this damn chevalier thing the only thing he could think about was saving her.

But Vergil didn't know what to do; there wasn't enough time to perform his "Great Judgement Cut" and simply hitting the orbs didn't seem to damage them at all.

Either way he had to do _something_.

Vergil ran towards where Diva would be in a few seconds and grabbed her, twisting around to "hide" her in front of him while using his back as a shield.

It worked a bit _too _well.

The front orb collided with his back, bringing back the mind-numbing pain and then some; Vergil grunted in pain, but that was all he gave that damn red sphere.

Vergil felt his body's reaction time slowing down by the millisecond and swung Yamato in a lazy arc back at the offending orb.

The orbs retreated and Mundus' voice could be heard laughing sadistically.

He looked down at Diva, who seemed genuinely surprised at what he'd done.

Vergil felt his expression soften unintentionally as he looked at her, and then harden again as he looked at the avatar.

His body recovered and he told Diva to get ready.

After a moment he pushed her away and lunged towards the orbs.

The orbs would all block his attack and then counter-attack. Then Vergil would dodge the attack and perform a regular Judgement Cut. It probably wouldn't do any damage but it should be able to stun the things long enough for him to use the powered up version and finish off these "torture spheres".

It was a good plan, but he failed to overlook one thing; the orbs didn't shatter when hit by his sword.

So when only one sphere blocked his attack, getting cut in the process, while the other two slammed into him, Vergil was caught completely by surprise.

But he didn't feel that pain again; instead being thrown across the room to collide with a wall, damaging his nervous system that much more.

He looked up just in time to see the orbs begin chasing Diva again.

However, they had split and now chased her individually, making it three times as hard for her to dodge them.

Vergil pushed himself up to his feet but stumbled a bit as his still relatively weak nervous system found it difficult to _stand up_, let alone walk

The orbs came at her from three directions, forcing her to jump up into the air to dodge them; the same mistake he'd made earlier.

The orbs stopped in mid-air and then jolted up at her.

Diva used her after-image technique to get out of their path, but they launched those fireballs at her, making her move to a predictable location.

The orbs moved towards her and Vergil heard her give a sound of surprise before they split into twelve orbs and trapped her...

A second later the whole chamber was filled with a shriek of pain which just continued on and on; making Vergil's heart actually skip a beat as he forced his legs still.

"Piece of shit body! Move!" He yelled at it mentally. But the damage the single orb had done to his nervous system made his limbs twitch, causing him to be unstable.

"_Twelve _goddamn orbs?! Enough!" He yelled at Mundus; though he couldn't be heard since Diva's shrieks were so loud.

"Move! Move! MOVE!" He yelled at his body over and over again as the seconds formed together and became a minute.

"Please, move!" He begged his body, Vergil's hatred lost to desperation.

Satisfied with his humility, his body finally seemed to work properly and Vergil air-tricked to the orbs; performing a Judgement Cut in mid air without realizing it.

The orbs dispersed and dropped Diva's limp body through the air.

Vergil caught her before she could hit the ground and landed himself, softly.

Vergil looked down at her with a sadness he no longer cared that he possessed.

Her eyes stared up at him and the look of them… it made him want to die.

"He's mean." She said before her eyes closed and Diva began breathing more slowly; unconscious.

Vergil gave a shaky laugh before lowering her to the ground and turning back towards the orbs, which had merged together again.

"Just like your father; unable to protect your little prize." Mundus spoke down to him.

Vergil didn't really care _what _he had to say.

"Diva is no prize." He spat at Mundus.

"And you…" He started while gripping Yamato and air-tricking over to the orbs.

"…are about to die." Vergil finished as he slashed out with Yamato, vaporizing the orbs with the shear speed and ferocity of his attack.

Mundus yelled out in a comforting amount of agony and Vergil smirked, his eyes going wide with momentary sadistic satisfaction.

"What's the matter, Mundus? Your _prized _little orbs missing?" Vergil said to the "demon king" with a tone similar to a bully laughing at someone they'd just beat up.

A portal appeared out of nowhere and one of Mundus' "true" forms appeared, still shaken from the quick defeat of his avatar.

"Foolish half-breed! You've sealed your fate!" The angelic-looking demon yelled at him.

Though it could have looke like the _Easter bunny _for all he cared.

Then however, the thing's white-stone hands came together and an orb, similar in size but much purer in hue, appeared in front of its palms.

The room began shining with a black light and Mundus lifted up in to the air, his wings spreading out and making Mundus appear as a silhouette with the sun/moon shining from behind him.

"This will make you experience an agony millions of times more painful than before for what feels like an eternity! Then you'll disintegrate _together_!" Mundus yelled hysterically.

The light ceased and the orb shrunk; preparing to fire.

Vergil couldn't stop this. It would kill both of them, most likely after what Mundus had just described.

"Damn you Mundus!" Vergil said in his head.

"Die! Son of Spar-"

Thunk

Mundus was cut off and the orb dispersed completely, his stone figure turning around in the air and revealing a huge gouge in his back.

"Y- you!" He stumbled out as he began to fall.

As he did Vergil saw a white overcoat and crimson-red gloves, accenting a long mane of silky black hair; all belonging to a man bent over slightly with a white-bladed sword in his hands.

"The dark knight!" Mundus said in utter shock.

The demon warrior who Vergil had thought dead stood up completely, though he was standing in the air, and his expression changed.

His serious eyes and neutral frown morphing into a satisfied smirk and a gaze that looked down at Mundus as if he were a bug.

"Wrong." The demon-warrior said as his free hand lifted up to face Mundus, emanating a blue flame that launched from his hand and engulfed Mundus, making him cry in a dying volume as his stone body disintegrated.

"The demon-king."

* * *

I know it was shorter than the previous two, but I thought that that was the best place to stop the chapter considering the (hopefully) surprise. I'll update sometime today or tonight, though I'm not going to make any gaurantees on how soon it will be. I'd really appreciate a review(which I am already getting! multiple ones! (laughs strangely)) Sorry, I really like reviews.

H-bomber, what I meant by "original" Vergil fans was those who didn't want him to change at all; wanting him to be exactly the same way he was in DMC3 without alot of angst, etc. Thanks for answering my question. I look forward to hearing what people thought of my little twist.


	26. Renovation

The man's smirk-like grin widened as the last of Mundus' body disintegrated.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that, _king_." He said before laughing at how he'd said "king".

After a few moments he seemed to notice the semi-stunned Vergil and his smile showed less humor; but just a bit.

"Vergil, right? Sorry for the little act earlier. But I had to make it believable. Despite how pathetic that Mundus was, he was quite paranoid. There was no way for me to kill him quickly on my own. Thank you, for your help." The new demon-king spoke before bowing politely and looking back at Vergil again.

His grin was a shifty one at best; it was the kind grin that made you unsure of whether the person who wore it considered you their closest friend, or if they were merely using you as a pawn.

Vergil finally blinked and seemed to grasp the situation all at once.

"You used me as a decoy to hurt Mundus so you could get him weak enough to kill him? Is that it?" He asked neutrally.

"Pretty much. Except I didn't require you to _weaken _him. It's just that I didn't want to put up with his annoying personality for a full-length battle, so I killed him quickly while he was unaware of my being alive. You've no idea how many forms he had and just how long it could have taken to kill him had he been aware of my… desires."

"Is betraying your master the only way to become the demon-king? Or is that just a long-standing tradition." Vergil asked in mild disgust.

However, he wasn't fazed in the least and never broke his grin.

"I suppose that's how everyone else had done it; though I don't intend on ever allowing anyone who's strong enough to defeat me to become my subordinate. Mundus was arrogant; believing he could handle whatever came at him simply because of his title and the power it awarded him. But he was a very weak demon before gaining the power of the demon-king. I, on the other hand, was stronger than him the whole time."

"Why come up with a decoy-scheme then if you could have killed him anytime you pleased?"

"I already told you," He said while sheathing his sword behind his back.

"I didn't want to be around him that long."

Vergil scoffed in response.

The warrior's eyes widened momentarily, as if he'd forgot something.

"Oh, my apologies. I've yet to introduce myself."

He bowed politely again, despite his new status as king of this whole world.

"My name is Enzeru Jigoku. I'm pleased to meet you." Enzeru said as he stood up again and landed on the ground, remembering he had been in the air until then.

Vergil never let his guard down.

Whether Enzeru's "true" persona was simply an act to make Vergil leave an opening, a sign of his arrogance, or just his actual personality the "man" was making him feel very uneasy.

"One last question. What are you planning to do now?" He asked out of curiosity.

Enzeru's head tilted just a bit as if to show he was having fun.

"Now? Well," He gazed out at the black sun/moon.

"I suppose I want to take over the _human _world as well. Demons are interesting and all, but I rather prefer the sights in the human world more.

Vergil's gaze narrowed as he got more serious.

"I see."

A second later he air-tricked over to Enzeru and swung Yamato at his neck.

Never losing his grin, Enzeru ducked under the fatal strike and stood up; now behind Vergil.

"Hm. How _impressive_." He commented snidely.

In response Vergil began attacking him again. But Enzeru never brought his hands up from his sides, preferring to side step and otherwise avoid Vergil's attacks.

"How can he be _this _powerful?" Vergil asked himself while stabbing at Enzeru.

As if hearing Vergil's thoughts, Enzeru stopped avoiding him and struck out, though casually, with one of his crimson-gloved hands.

Vergil blocked with Yamato but was still blown back into a wall.

"It's been fun, but I'd like to go out and see just how much power I've gained. Please excuse me." He said politely before turning away from Vergil, towards the hole in the ceiling that allowed the moon/sun to shine down into the room.

"If you want to test your power, who better to test it on?" Vergil asked him while getting up to his feet.

Enzeru turned back to him, seeming amused. Though with his face it was hard to tell one expression from another.

"I appreciate your determination and commitment, but I meant I wanted to test it on a more… sturdier opponent."

Vergil scowled.

"'Sturdier' huh? You don't think I'm strong enough to defeat you?"

"No." Enzeru said bluntly, though still maintaining his aura of politeness.

Not even bothering to give an audio response, Vergil ran forward and slashed at Enzeru.

He sighed, still holding that damn grin, and twisted around Vergil, putting a hand on his shoulder casually.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm thinking about changing the style of this building; so I'd appreciate it if you could leave while we're renovating." Then Enzeru nudged him; something that usually wouldn't have even made Vergil's feet move.

But the nudge was enough to blast him through a wall and fly outside; to fall thousands of feet.

"Not again." Vergil stated despite the mild pain he got from going through the stone.

He moved closer to the tower's walls by air-tricking before stabbing Yamato into the outside of the building; effectively stopping his descent.

Vergil looked up, expecting to see Enzeru looking down at him from the hole.

When he heard a calm, warm voice speak next to him though he knew just how fast Enzeru was.

"I suppose it was rather rude of me to just knock you out of the room like that. Please forgive me. Still, I'm on a tight schedule. So…" Enzeru pulled Yamato out of the building and flung Vergil towards the ground below.

This time Vergil couldn't make it to the building in time and instead used Judgement Cut to turn the tile beneath him into sand, softening his landing.

Still, it hurt royally and sand tasted horrible no matter _what _world it came from.

A few moments passed and Vergil thrust himself out of the sand, shaking the free specks of it from his hair even as he saw Enzeru walking along, examining the tower.

"I don't know. It just seems to gothic for my taste. What do you think?"

"I think that you're starting to irritate me." Vergil responded in a much harsher and less social tone than Enzeru did.

"I'm sorry." He spoke as if out of a feeling of obligation.

"At first, I was just going to restyle it but now that I really look at it, it seems better and better to simply start from scratch."

Enzeru blinked, his eyes turning that bluish white as before.

Whether he could change his "state" so quickly and effortlessly now that he had gained the demon-king power or if he simply had been putting on an act with it as everything else, hundreds of those ghost-swords appeared around the tower and started revolving around it; revealing that they covered all sides equally.

Then they stopped revolving and all pierced through the tower at the same time.

Seconds passed and the tower didn't fall down.

Enzeru looked at him with an innocent-looking smile of embarrassment before clearing his throat and tapping a hand against the age-old tower and rubbing the same hand against the back of his head.

With the small show of effort the millions of pounds worth of stone began toppling over.

"Such power." Vergil thought with no small amount of jealousy at how easily Enzeru had forced such a large thing to start falling.

Once again seeming to read his thoughts, Enzeru spoke again, pointing up while walking away to the side.

"You may want to worry about moving instead."

Vergil's eyebrows furrowed out of confusion as he saw the tower was falling towards him.

"I hate this guy already."

Then the whole stone tower came down on his head.

* * *

Sorry for the decrease in quality of this chapter.(and the incredibly boring chapter title. my praise for those who still read this chapter despite it sounding like an episode of a boring sitcom) I think I'm done for now. I won't update again until tonight. Still, I look forward to any reviews once I get back on the computer tonight. Until then, everyone have a good day and please try not to let a tower fall on your head.


	27. Broken tower, new dress and thirsty

Diva walked amongst the huge ruins of the fallen tower, wondering what had happened.

When she woke up, the tower had already fallen down for some reason and, more importantly to her, Vergil was gone.

Everything was always so boring without him around; there was no one to talk to and no one to follow around.

There was just boredom.

Diva gave an elaborate sigh in an attempt to draw Vergil out, as he would have to respond to her since she made a noise.

"Maybe he's not here." Diva thought as she sat down on a higher pile of rubble than usual.

The whole thing was more or less destroyed; a few segments of the walls were still left here and there. But all together she would have had a easier time finding a haystack in a needle.

"Or is it the other way around?" She briefly asked herself before losing interest.

She shrugged and lay back on the slab of stone, treating it as a bed now.

"I wonder what kind of dress I'll buy. Hmm." She heard a noise but was no longer interested in anything other than her dress.

It wouldn't have any sleeves; having only ties holding it up. The bottom would be ruffled and the whole thing would be white.

She might wear a blue scarf with it too. Diva would have to decide once she got to the store.

"It looked good on Saya. I wonder if it will look good on me." She thought out loud while examining herself, still oblivious to the noise which was growing louder.

Though Saya had been wearing a _pink _dress and a _black _scarf it should still look okay.

"-me!" She heard and asked the air what had made that sound.

Then Diva felt the rock underneath her move and rolled over; looking over the edge of it and seeing Vergil underneath.

"Hey, Vergil!" She exclaimed happily.

"What're _you _doing down there?" Diva asked, looking around.

"It _fell _on me you imbecile! Get off!" He yelled at her impatiently.

Diva pushed herself up; sitting up now. But she didn't get off the stone slab.

"What do you think I should get? I liked Saya's dress, but I don't know how nice I would look without sleeves on my dress." She asked, frowning in thought as he started to push the slab off him.

"That's it! When I get out from under here I'm going to-" The stone slab cut him off as Diva stepped off it, causing the hard material to collide with Vergil's forehead.

A second later he launched the rock piece off him and yards away into another area of the ruins and bolted up, glaring at Diva.

"Why you little…" Vergil's temper resided, though Diva hadn't noticed him being angry to begin with.

She turned around, facing towards him and looked at the rubble.

"What happened?" She asked curiously.

Vergil knocked the dust from his clothes as he responded.

"The dark knight killed Mundus, and then he knocked down the tower with a tap of his hand." Vergil said in a somewhat tone like he didn't want to admit it all.

"Oh? Did he lose the other one?" Diva asked with a frown.

He looked at her strangely and finished dusting himself off.

"No, he didn't 'lose the other one'."

"That's good. He had nice hands."

Vergil nodded his head once before realizing what she'd said and looked at her even more strangely than before.

"What?!"

Diva giggled in response to his funny comment.

"Just kidding!" She said while prancing away.

He shook his head with his eyes closed.

"You're strange." He remarked.

Diva stopped and turned back towards him.

"In a good way, right?" She asked with a somewhat sad expression.

"There _is _no…" He stopped himself when he saw her face and looked away.

"Yes." He said as if giving into something.

Diva's smile returned and she ran over to him, hugging his arm.

"Let's go!"

Vergil looked at her and almost looked like he might smile for a second.

"Where?"

She shrugged and pulled him away from the ruins and rubble of the tower.

"I want to go home." Diva said longingly while rubbing her head against Vergil's arm.

He gave some strange growl in response to her "interaction" but it didn't bother her.

"And where exactly _is _your home?" He asked in an uncaring tone.

She stopped walking and frowned.

She actually didn't know.

Her chevaliers had owned a huge corporation and had always provided her with any things she could ever want. But now that all of them were gone she didn't have anything.

"Wait!" Diva thought out loud as she near-always did.

"We can go to _your _home! I can stay _there_!" She told Vergil, excited.

After all, anything that belonged to her chevaliers belonged to her.

But Vergil just looked ahead.

"I don't have a home. I have no use for such a thing."

Diva frowned and tilted her head at him.

"But we're still getting the dress right?"

He looked at her again.

"This is the demon world. Do you even see any stores around to buy a dress _from_?"

She looked around; seeing only rubble and white tiles.

"Nope." She said happily, not realizing what he was getting at.

A second later she licked her lips and looked directly at Vergil again.

"I'm thirsty." Diva told him.

"For blood? Well that's unfortunate for you, seeing as there isn't anything around for you to 'drink' from." Vergil replied coldly, knowing what she really wanted to do;him having "tasted" so good to her last time it was obvious to him that she had particular person in mind.

She pouted in response.

"No fair! You're my chevalier! My knight! You have to do whatever I say!" She yelled up to him even though he was only a few inches away.

Vergil's head moved away from the offending noise and looked back at her.

"I resign then. This is my two-second notice." He said before separating from her and walking a bit away.

Diva stood there, perfectly still.

"That's not funny." She said quietly, her face hidden mostly be her bangs now that she was looking down.

"It wasn't intended to be." He retorted, still not showing any care in his tone.

"But he helped me in that room when those ball-things were hurting me! Why isn't he being nice _now_?" She asked herself in her head.

"It's deluded too." Diva spoke up, looking at him again.

Vergil turned back to look at her after hearing her say such a serious word.

"You helped me in the tower; you warned me and even saved me. You don't have a choice of whether or not you're my chevalier."

Really, she didn't even remember giving him her blood, but she felt the same connection to him that she'd felt towards all of her chevaliers before him.

"You're right." He said back to her and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Thanks to your disgusting blood, I am now bound against my will to not only help you, but to actually _care _about you. Yet at the same time I can realize that the thoughts that I have while worrying about you are not native to my mind. They were planted there by an invading influence. Honestly, I shouldn't try and leave. No. What I _should_ do… is kill you." Vergil responded with that cold tone of his.

Diva took a step back, though it was because of the hurt she felt from what he'd said as opposed to fear of whether or not he was serious.

She felt unbelievably sad simply from how much his words had hurt her.

Being sad wasn't fun. It wasn't fun at all.

She hated it.

It was the worst feeling of all.

So she forgot about it, letting it get thrown back into that tower with all the rest of her sadness and looked at him with a different expression; the one she'd worn when she fed on him.

"Kill me? How, Vergil?" She asked him in a tone she'd only held before while talking to Saya.

He actually seemed surprised by her response, though he barely showed any reaction to it.

"I could find a way. I always do." Vergil responded, not letting her "win" as he probably thought of it as some kind of contest, like everything else.

"Hm. Except against me last time, your brother and that tennis ball guy. And how'd that guy with the black hair get away?"

He scowled at her, his hands tightening into fists.

"You…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"How did you get here to begin with? Something about getting hit off that cliff by Dante?"

Vergil's eyes bulged for a moment before a smirk battled its way through his scowl.

"Heh. I didn't beat you last time hm? Well," He said with a small amount of humor in his voice as the smirk took over his lips completely.

"Do you remember _this _part in your little fight-replay?"

Then there was a blue flash and she saw it; that thing that had hurt her so much before.

Diva lost her grin and backed away; even her normally carefree attitude shattered at seeing it again.

"You mean it was you who… hurt me before?" She asked before tripping on a piece of rubble and falling backwards.

No, it couldn't have been Vergil. It had to be something else. It just _had _to.

The monster stood there looking at her.

"_**Heh. What's wrong? You seemed to be having so much fun just a second ago.**_"It commented at her being dumbstruck.

She looked back at the ground, trying not to be afraid.

"Go away." Diva told it quietly.

It walked towards her, the blue light that emanated from its body casting a similarly-colored shadow on her as it did so.

"I don't want to talk to _you _anymore. Bring Vergil back." She told it in a louder tone.

Its response was to laugh at her in a chilling manner.

"_**I don't know what you have in that messed up little mind of yours, but I'm not some evil monster. I, **__**AM **__**Vergil.**_"

"Bring him back." She told it again as it reached her and stood over her.

When it simply laughed at her again she glared up at it.

"Bring him _back_!" She yelled at it while bolting up and swatting at the thing.

Something flew from it and a reverse version of the transformation happened, Vergil now standing where the monster had before; despite his hair having fallen down flat.

Diva didn't get the chance to say anything before Vergil ran over to where the thing had fallen and dug through the rubble to find it; eventually exhaling and pulling his amulet, which is what he'd been looking for, up to his face.

He closed his eyes and rested the amulet against his forehead.

Then his hand came up and pulled through his hair; making it go back as it usually was.

After that he stood up and looked at Diva, who was staring at him with a relieved smile.

Vergil, however, didn't seem relieved to see her.

"Don't ever mention my battle with Dante again." He said calmly as if nothing had happened.

She didn't care though. He was back and that was all that mattered.

Diva nodded her head quickly.

"Sure. Just don't…" Her smile faded as she let herself fall down again.

Vergil closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them and walked back over to her, pulling Diva up to her feet.

"Come on. Let's go." He said before turning away and walking towards who-knew-where.

She nodded her head again as the smile lit back up and she ran after him.

* * *

Sorry it took so long compared to my other ones to update. I kind of had a problem coming up with the chapter. Once I get back on track though the chapters should come more quickly again. Even as it is now, I should be able to get at least one more chapter in before noon. Right now I'm deciding how to proceed with the story; as I already have a general idea, it just has yet to be translated into actual words. heh. I'll update as soon as possible. (Oh, and thanks a ton H-bomber for that last comment. One of the best ones you'd ever read? I'm very honored.) Everyone else, you know you feel guilty about not leaving at least twenty reviews per paragraph. Look, you can still save yourself. Give me a bunch of reviews now and I shall pardon you. (For those of you who who've seen the movie, that was a rip-off from "The good the bad and the ugly". okay then, I'm off to get working.)


	28. Waiting for the demonboy

"So, _this _is the power one gains when they become the ruler of the demon world." Enzeru thought out loud while grinning inside as much as he was outside.

After flying for a while and making it past all those little "areas" of Mundus' design that had served to protect the little ant from others, he'd come upon a rocky area filled with demons intent on destroying him after they found out he'd killed Mundus.

"Haha. Such a pathetic thing didn't even deserve to have a name." Enzeru laughed to the silence around him.

There had to have been at least hundreds of them, maybe thousands. He wasn't quite sure.

All it had taken was a few moments though.

He'd charged up his "Penitence Flame"; the attack that caused bluish-white fire to form around a single or both hands that was then hurled at the enemy.

Ironically, the attack that had disintegrated Mundus had done the same to his followers as well.

Ten seconds.

In ten seconds the flames had engulfed the whole demon army and burnt them all into indiscernible ash.

At the time, he'd laughed at just how much stronger the attack had become, but eventually his humor subsided, as did his laughing.

But he never lost his grin.

Smirk, etcetera. Some considered it a smile, some a grin, some a smirk and others simply something that aggravated them.

However, he'd always thought of it as a way to show how happy he was with the way things were going.

There was a time long ago when he would smile very differently, but those times were long gone.

He lived for one thing now; power.

And he'd gotten it when he defeated Mundus. But he wanted _more _power!

It wasn't enough! There was almost a physical craving for it; sometimes he would actually feel hungry, despite the fact that he no longer required food to survive.

Simply waiting in that room all those years with almost never anyone to fight had almost driven him insane.

Or had succeeded. Once again, it depended on your opinion.

"Now," He spoke while looking around for something to preoccupy himself with.

"Whatever _shall _I do?" Enzeru asked the silence.

That boy Vergil would surely come after him soon. Perhaps he should just sit and wait for him.

Enzeru hovered in the air for a few moments before coming up with a better idea.

His eyes glowed the same color as his flames and then he shot a fireball into the ground below him.

"Hmph. Should I do his old house or-" His grinned wider as he decided on what to make.

"Rise." He told the ground.

A second later it trembled and cracked, the ground falling into a crater.

The crater was quickly filled by a circular shape which thrust up through the massive hole in the ground.

Soon it was revealed to be a cylinder; as big as the crater itself.

It scraped against the earth around it as it slid higher and higher up into the sky.

The tower, a quick but accurate reproduction of the Temen-ni-gru from the human world, stood thousands of feet high and almost reached up to where Enzeru was.

He started lowering while floating towards the top of the tower and stepped on its edge as he ceased hovering.

Enzeru continued walking until he reached the other side of the tower and looked out at the full white moon.

It had been a very long time indeed since he'd seen the moon in its natural color.

Judging by how far away they were and their limited means of travel it would take them at the very least a day or so, and that was if they knew where he was. He could be patient though.

There was irony again, but this time because he would defeat Vergil, the "demon" brother on a recreation of the Temen-ni-gru which had connected the two worlds together, and all this while in the demon world.

It wasn't as funny as the other thing, but he preferred to have a positive outlook on life.

Enzeru inhaled and then exhaled, waiting eagerly for Vergil to show up.

* * *

I know it was extremely short, but considering this is a new character I wanted to introduce him in a quick little chapter. Also, I want to get a feel for his personality before writing him in 2,000 word-long chapters. I promise i'll update again before noon, but I'm not sure how long it will take.


	29. A lift

"Are we there yet?" Diva asked him again as they continued their journey across the sea of white tiles.

It wasn't a particularly hard journey. In fact, the walking was rather smooth and easy.

It was how _long _it was taking that bothered him.

"You already asked that when we were traveling somewhere before." Vergil finally answered, not looking back at her.

"If you must continuously pester me, at least come up with a creative way in which to do so. This is boring enough without an old annoying phrase being told once more."

She was silent for a few seconds and he finally felt peace creep into his mind.

"Have we yet to arrive at our destination?" Diva asked in a surprisingly good imitation of the "rich-British" accent.

He sighed.

"Fine. At least it's different." He noticed something as they continued and soon realized it was one of the "barrier walls", though it was still far away.

As long as they didn't end up at the water gate he didn't care. Though the desert wouldn't be a favorite of his either.

Honestly he'd prefer the mountain.

But the two of them _had _to catch up with Enzeru. So if he ended up in an area filled with a million Divas he'd force himself through it.

Speaking of her, she'd been very quiet until recently. No doubt due to her now knowing that _he _had been the demon the whole time. Though she still seemed to be denying it.

Vergil was concerned himself.

While he had been able to maintain his thought process this time when he devil-triggered it had felt strange; as though he should have stayed in that form.

It was most likely because of how concentrated the demonic power was in this area, and his ability to stay "conscious" the whole time was probably because he was not in life-threatening danger when he activated it; as opposed to the fatigued states he'd been in the previous times he devil-triggered in the demonic world.

Strangest of all, he hadn't felt bad about hurting Diva's feelings while in that form.

As he was now, Vergil's resistant demonic blood lessened the impact the "chevalier blood" had on him, but he still felt bad when she was hurt, regardless of how.

But when he was devil-triggered Vergil hadn't felt anything towards her; like she was just any other thing to be killed.

Luckily for her he couldn't maintain his demon form forever, especially down here. So he couldn't simply choose to stay like that and not feel anything for her.

They finally reached the sky-high stone walls and he looked up, spotting a hole in the wall high above where they were now.

He air-tricked up a few times until he reached the hole while Diva after-imaged to it.

Vergil praised his luck, however late timing it had, as he saw peaks of mountains through the hole which had a fair amount of wind blowing out of it.

The two moved through the hole and walked out onto a mountaintop, staring down at the mountains below.

This was the second-highest peak in the whole area, so the view it provided was magnificent.

The countless mountains and the crevices and valleys in-between them resembled something you would see in a famous painting of scenery in the human world.

But seeing it and experiencing it was far from the same thing.

And if Vergil had come here to take pictures it would have been the highlight of his visit.

But alas, he had more important things to do than sight-see.

"Ooooh. Pretty." Diva commented, apparently not having a mutual feeling.

He scanned the various mountains and valleys for an exit. Or rather, an entrance; considering it was meant to be entered from the other side.

Eventually he spotted it at the very base of the lowest mountain and pointed it out to Diva.

She acknowledged it, but didn't seem very interested.

"If she chooses to remain here then so be it. The chevalier effect doesn't respond significantly simply because we're parted."

Though it didn't matter anyway, as Vergil knew Diva would follow him wherever he went. She had nothing else to do after all.

The two of them jumped off the mountain and fell through the thin clouds until they made it to another lower mountain's peak.

Luckily for them, since the terrain was designed to be difficult to come from the opposite direction, getting back to the entrance was much easier than clambering up the mountains would have been.

Still, considering how harsh the conditions of the ice-area had been this should have been more difficult; there weren't tornados or wind-storms or any other signs of hindrances throughout the whole area.

"Stay alert. There is probably some kind of keeper here as well. Most likely stronger than the other one considering how safe the conditions are here compared to the other area. You must be aware of everything."

"Look! A bird!" Diva yelled out happily.

Vergil followed her gaze and saw the thing he had failed to notice; despite his short little speech about paying attention.

It wasn't a bird though.

Birds were small-to-medium sized things, some of them bigger than adults.

But this was _not _a bird.

A bird didn't have jade-colored talons that looked like they could cut through buildings or wings that looked as if they could blow the water off the world. They weren't the size of large elephants nor did they have beaks that actually appeared to be made of shining gold.

This was no bird. This was the demonic version of a phoenix.

The feathers that were blown off its wings refracted light off them so it appeared the hell-phoenix was leading a shining path to death.

Unfortunately for it he hated tours of any kind, so he wasn't going to be led to his demise any time soon.

They landed on another peak and Vergil decided that they should stop and face it here as opposed to in the air; its obviously most skilled battleground.

Ideally they should battle it from the valleys, but it would take much longer to get to the entrance that way than it would to kill the phoenix and just keep going from mountaintop to mountaintop.

The "magical" flying behemoth made it to them and he braced himself for an attack.

Surprisingly, it didn't come.

Instead he felt a gust of wind strong enough to threaten his hold on the rock blow past him as the thing stoppe its forward movement.

The hell-phoenix kept itself aloft by beating its huge wings against the air and looked at them without a look of bloodlust; but of wisdom.

"You do not look as demons." It spoke solemnly without opening its beak.

"Yet you came from the king's entrance. What is your purpose here?"

Vergil waited a moment before answering; the thing, despite its huge size, seemed level-headed enough to be able to talk.

Perhaps it wouldn't take too long to get to the entrance after all.

"I am traveling through this area to reach Enzeru Jigoku; the ex-dark knight and new demon-king."

The wise-looking eyes in its head actually widened in surprise, but soon narrowed to their normal look, peering off slightly as if contemplating something.

"I see. So the dark knight has assassinated the king."

"Don't your loyalties lie with the current demon-king, regardless of who they are?"

The eyes gazed at him again.

"Most demons go with whatever has the most power. Many of them are either too weak or too unintelligent to survive otherwise. The greater-demons however, commit their power either to themselves or to a demon even stronger than they are. My situation is the latter. Mundus chose me as the guardian of this area and I accepted. Therefore, regardless of who is the king _now_, my allegiance lies with the fallen king."

"Then what will you do now?" He asked the knowledgeable demon.

"I spotted a human-like thing moving quickly through the sky a while ago. Not even I could keep up with its speed and yet, for the moment that I felt it, I could sense just how much greater his power was than mine."

They looked at each other for a few more seconds.

"I _also _sense that _your _power is superior to mine. So, in exchange for taking you to where he is, will you vow to kill him?"

Vergil grinned inwardly.

"It's going to help me doing what I was already going to do, quicker? I suppose my luck really _is _improving." He thought before nodding.

"I vow to kill him." He told the guardian.

Its gaze switched to Diva and gazed at her as well.

"What of her?" It asked.

Diva had, until now, been preoccupied with observing the scenery.

When she noticed the two were looking at her she smiled childishly before looking away again.

"She is… traveling with me. Despite her looks and lack of demonic abilities she is still quite able of fighting strong opponents."

It looked back at him again before moving to allow the two to climb on its back.

Vergil tapped Diva with the back of his hand as he walked past her so she knew it was time to go.

After both of them were on top of it, the guardian beat its wings harder; pushing them away from the mountaintop and carrying them, much quicker than they could have traveled themselves, past the entrance since it could fly high enough to make it over the mile-high walls that surrounded the mountains

"I hope you enjoyed your title while it was yours, Enzeru. Because soon…" He thought while looking at his left hand which had stopped holding onto the guardian's feathers.

"_I _will be the demon-king." He finished, tightening the hand into a fist.

* * *

I know this wasn't the greatest chapter yet but it's a lead-on to the next one which should be good. I doubt I'll update before tonight(this morning, most likely. for those on a day schedule) but taking a break from it should help make the quality better when I do it. hopefully.

H-bomber, I haven't decided yet if I want to do a whole chapter specifically dedicated to a kind of flashback, though it _is _entirely possible. Either way, I plan to reveal his past and other secrets one way or another throughout the story whether it be a whole chapter for it or spread out through multiple ones. So, to give a simple answer to your question, yes. I will reveal his past.


	30. Heartwarming friendly reunion

"How much further is it?" He asked the guardian after they'd been traveling for a while.

The area that they were in now, which didn't seem to be any of the extreme-condition ones in the "ring" around where Mundus' tower had been, was mostly void of anything other than dirt and looked to be along the lines of the wasteland Vergil had first arrived at.

Though he hadn't yet seen any kind of monsters "inherent" in the land as the sandworms had been.

And while most of the dirt-land was empty of anything there was, of course, a large rock formation blocking his view up ahead.

"I am not sure. As I said, the thing was moving so fast that there is no way I could catch up to it. So if it is still flying, it will be quite a distance in front of us. Yet somehow I doubt it is still in flight."

Diva had been trying to play I-spy with him for a while until he pointed out that the only possible thing she could see at all was dirt.

She'd given up after that but now was most likely either pouting or extremely bored.

"Probably a mixture of both." He thought, commenting on just how childish she was.

"I spy…" He heard a voice say behind him.

He exhaled as much air as he could considering how high they were and how fast they were moving.

"Dirt." He said, uncharismatic towards the continuation of this ridiculous game.

"Nope!" He heard the overjoyed girl exclaim behind him.

He gave a casual scoff.

"_What _then?" Vergil asked, his eyes closed now.

"A _tower_!"

Vergil opened his eyes and saw it as well.

It was almost as tall as Mundus' tower had been, though the outside of its circular shape had pieces of ancient wall crumbling off.

The tower resembled a kind of coliseum-themed tower with its shape and windows.

It was _Temenn-ni-gru_! He realized with wide eyes.

"But… that's impossible! The tower would have descended back into the earth of the human world once the amulets were separated. And this can't be the original as the crumbling portions were knocked off when the tower 'arose'."

Still, there was no mistaking it.

Everything was exactly the same; this _was _Temen-ni-gru.

And standing exactly where he had been when Dante ascended the tower was a familiar white-clothed figure.

"That's him." He told the guardian, who veered towards the roof of the huge tower.

However, when they came within a few hundred feet of the building something transparent appeared next to Enzeru, the white-clothed person, and pitched towards them.

Vergil realized what it was too late and his warning was lost on the guardian as a blade pierced one of its wings.

The guardian squawked in pain but continued flying towards the tower, and was met by more of Enzeru's strange ghost swords.

It tried to dodge them, and succeeded for the most part. But Enzeru was launching so many swords at it that aventually the guardian, after having been hit by more than a dozen swords which still lay buried in it, fell from the sky; saving Vergil and Diva from sharing the same fate as it would by crashing into the steps that led up to the tower, flinging the two onto the tower as it fell from the roof; all the way down to the ground far below.

Vergil pushed himself up and looked up the steps; there were still a few dozen to go, but it certainly beat having air-tricked here.

Diva had gotten up as well, though she was just brushing off her dress and not showing awareness of anything else at the time.

It didn't matter. He knew what Enzeru was trying to do, and it sickened him.

He walked up the steps, hearing Diva follow behind him, until he reached the end of the circular section and only a few straight steps remained.

Vergil walked up them, being sure to hold Yamato's sheath tightly as he did so.

Seconds later his boots stepped on the roof and he walked a few more steps towards Enzeru.

His head barely looked back at Vergil before he responded.

"You showed up." Enzeru said in a reiteration of what Vergil had said to Dante when he arrived at the top of the tower in the human world, as he turned towards Vergil.

Though, as always, he held that strange grin and had a humor in his tone as if there was some kind of joke that only he found amusing.

"Diva, stay back here." He told her, not moving his eyes from Enzeru.

"That's not fair! You're the only one who ever gets to have any fun! Why can't _I _play?!" She objected

"Diva!"

She stopped complaining and he heard her sulk away to somewhere.

After she was at or past the edge of the top of the tower he spoke up again.

"You certainly know how to rule the demon world. No armies, no transformations, and the only guardian just left." He said, playing along with this twisted little game.

Enzeru's grin widened and he knew the bastard was enjoying this.

"My sincerest apology, Vergil. I was so eager to see you I, couldn't concentrate on preparations for my reign."

"Heh. Do as you please. At any rate, it's only been a little while since we last saw each other. How about another interesting conversation?"

Enzeru didn't respond, just as Vergil hadn't.

"Or better yet, how about a conversation with these." He spoke, drawing out Yamato.

Enzeru tensed his hand and suddenly there was a loud bang of thunder, as rain began to fall at his command.

"So, this is what they call a heartwarming friendly reunion, hm?" He spoke to his smirking opponent on the other side of the tower.

Enzeru's left hand went behind his back, underneath his coat and grabbed his sword's hilt.

"You got that right." He said before snapping it out of its sheathe.

* * *

I know it was short but I wanted it to be like it was in the game. I'll update soon.


	31. And, scene

Vergil, as expected, ran towards him brandishing his weapon, Yamato.

Enzeru widened his smirk and pulled his own sword, Salvataggio, from its sheathe behind his back and swiped himself across the rooftop; cutting Vergil off before he could even make it to the middle.

He blocked with Yamato but Enzeru's attack had been too strong and made him stagger.

"Heh. You may be talented, but you could use some more battle experience. Fighting your brother and big hunkering demons must have made your fighting style weaken when faced with a thinking opponent." Enzeru remarked as Vergil regained his balance.

"Hmph. Such a strange comment. What happened to your friendly little quips? Vergil shot back at him while putting Yamato in its sheathe and preparing a stance.

"Battojutsu huh?" Enzeru asked himself in his head.

It was basically just the name of the stance taken when preparing to pull the sword out of its sheathe in a strong attack.

Or at least that's what it told him, which in battle was all that mattered.

Enzeru ran towards Vergil, holding his sword out in front of him as he was "supposed" to.

However, instead of getting his sword knocked from his hands or having a huge gash put in his chest by Yamato Enzeru allowed himself to fall down; his momentum keeping him going towards Vergil as he slashed out with Yamato at the air above Enzeru's head.

"Hmph." He let out while moving Salvataggio in his grip so the blade was facing away from Vergil.

Then he twisted himself so his body was looking down at the ground and his elbow swung Salvataggio at Vergil's sword; knocking _his _weapon away from him.

Vergil grunted in surprise before using his moving technique, air-trick wasn't it, towards his fallen weapon.

"How predictable." Enzeru mumbled confidently in his head before flipping up off the ground with enough force to vault himself over to behind where Vergil had just finished teleporting to.

He barely had time to turn around before Enzeru spun himself around in a roundhouse, kicking Vergil into and through one of the statues near the edge of the tower.

Enzeru walked towards the dust cloud that was quickly dissipating because of the rain, but didn't see his demon-boy opponent in the clearing cloud.

Then he heard a sound behind him and Enzeru smirked.

"There we go." He said before bringing Salvataggio up to block Vergil's attack at his back.

Then he turned around while backing away, both of them ready to fight at the same time.

Vergil ran at him again and began to swing Yamato.

Enzeru ducked under where the strike would be and stabbed out with his own sword, but Vergil had disappeared again.

He gave another smirk at how Vergil had tricked him again and got in a handstand before pushing himself up into the air to dodge Vergil's next attack.

Still in the air, he blocked the next series of sword-swipes that Vergil gave him before knocking his sword away, landing on the ground as Vergil became ready to attack again.

He put his sword in its sheathe again and Enzeru's grin lessened.

"Again, hm?" He thought, somewhat disappointed.

Instead of getting ready to strike though, Vergil slid backwards and Enzeru felt a sphere form around him, making the outside world have a purple hue to his vision.

"Oh, Judgment Cut. That's better." He thought while forming fire around his body that burned away at the purple orb.

Vergil scowled in response to Enzeru effortlessly destroying his best effort to beat him.

If it hadn't been raining he bet he'd be able to see Vergil sweating.

"Come on, wimp." He spoke, imitating Dante. Though his grin and humorous tone kind of lessened the quality of the impersonation.

It was enough for Vergil though.

"Don't get so cocky." Vergil spoke while rotating his sword in the air before a purple orb formed around _him_.

"Hm. How curious." Enzeru commented, still grinning.

He blinked and a ghost-sword was sent at Vergil.

Surprisingly, it shattered and disintegrated as it hit his "barrier".

"Using Judgement Cut's spatial separation to form an impenetrable barrier around yourself. Most impressive Vergil." He complimented the serious little demon-boy.

"Still," Enzeru counter-spoke as his free hand glowed with bluish-white fire.

"I don't think it can handle _this_." Then he shot the fire at Vergil; who was soon engulfed in the same fire that had disintegrated Mundus.

One of Enzeru's eyebrows rose and he looked at the sphere-shaped flame, wondering if it was over already.

When the fire dissipated and both Vergil and his barrier were unharmed Enzeru's eyes widened.

A second later he laughed in joy at how much fun this had quickly become.

"Touche!" He chuckled over at Vergil while raising Salvataggio to point at him.

"Don't change. Not even a bit. Let's give it our all!" Then his sword lowered, Enzeru looked down and his whole body was covered in flame, his eyes changing color in the process.

He looked back up at Vergil, who stood nonmoving.

"After all, it would be a shame if you died without being at your best."

Another thunder crack sounded out in black sky.

"Come on." Vergil said calmly.

Enzeru's grin changed into an undeniable smirk and he took a step forward towards Vergil.

Then, however, something happened that neither of them had predicted.

The girl, Diva, walked up onto the tower again, speaking to Vergil.

"I'm bored. Let's go now." She told him, ignorant or uninterested in what was going on.

He thought with a bit of humor at how she had done the same thing when they battled back in Mundus' ridiculous tower.

"I told you to leave!" He yelled back at her without looking away from Enzeru.

"At least he's not inexperienced enough to let his attention stray from the battle." Enzeru thought as a compliment to the demon-boy.

"And I got tired of waiting-" She stopped talking when she saw Enzeru.

He didn't know what reaction he expected, but Enzeru certainly _hadn't _expected for her to point at him while looking at Vergil again.

"Hey, isn't that the guy with the doll?" She asked him, Vergil's eyes widening as she spoke it as if he knew the girl was going to do something he didn't want her to do.

A second later she was right in front of Enzeru and looked him over.

"I don't see it." She said, frowning.

"Hm?" He inquired to her, curious.

"My doll. Where is it?"

Enzeru had to admit that even with his rather unworried attitude she seemed completely oblivious to what was going on.

Though it didn't really matter either.

He swatted her away, Diva being sent over the side of the tower with his casual stroke.

Then he returned his attention to Vergil; before feeling the back of his coat pulled up.

Enzeru turned back to see what was going on, as Vergil hadn't moved, and saw it was her again, looking under his coat.

"It's not under here either." She remarked as if he hadn't just knocked her off the tower.

He grabbed the girl and ran her through with Salvataggio and twisted it, eliminating any organs in her stomach.

Blood dripped from her mouth and she looked past him, at Vergil.

"Did you lie about him having a doll? That wasn't very nice." She spoke clearly like she was fine.

Enzeru actually felt his grin dip for a second before Vergil appeared next to them and sliced down with Yamato.

He backed away, letting the girl step back herself; now-unwounded except for the fairly large hole in the stomach section of her dress.

Vergil held her and air-tricked away, appearing next to the steps and letting go of her before facing Enzeru.

He was grinning regularly again and decided this had gone on long enough.

There were things for him to do after all.

Enzeru put Salvataggio's tip on the ground and ran towards Vergil; the blade scraping against the wet stone as he did so.

Vergil knew what he was going to do and hit the blade as it came up to keep it from severing his head.

Enzeru moved the blade and stabbed forward, just as Dante had.

Again mirroring the movements he'd performed before, Vergil knocked it away before letting Yamato move in the air and hit Enzeru in the gut with the pommel of his sword.

Though since he was stronger than Vergil's brother had been the attack didn't even make him move, but he fixed that easily by pushing off the ground with his heals and swiping at Vergil while he was "thrown" back across the roof.

As expected, Vergil blocked it and Enzeru sent a few swords at him in place of the bullets from Dante's guns.

Yamato whirled in the air, separating pieces from the swords while the rest of them disintegrated.

Then he dragged the tip along the floor and swiped the pieces back at Enzeru, who chopped them in half.

"Why are you trying to reenact this battle? The battle between me and my brother Dante." Vergil asked him, holding his sword in the perfect position.

Enzeru gave a laugh as he pushed away from the statue he'd "hit".

"Why? Hahaha. I'm not completely sure why. I just liked the scene, that's all."

Then the two lunged at each other and clashed swords; Vergil glaring at Enzeru while he simply grinned back.

Then his sword slid along Enzeru's blade and he forced it up out of his hands.

Vergil brought Yamato down, ready to stab him and finish the scene.

As the sword approached Enzeru's stomach, however, he lost interest in reenacting this and grabbed the tip of the sword before it could pierce his stomach.

Then he caught Salvataggio and stabbed Vergil through _his _stomach.

The look of shock on his face was partially hid by the scowl he gave Enzeru.

"What? Did you think I was going to just _let _you win for the sake of the scene? Heheh. Sorry. But I've waited far too long to simply let myself get killed now. Besides," He spoke while pushing the sword in further and making Vergil grunt.

"You couldn't kill me anyway. I observed all your battles until you got to the tower. None of your little tricks will work on me." Then he forced the sword in all the way.

"And this is the last time I'm going to speak to you as if we're equal." He said, briefly looking like he had back in the tower.

Then his grin returned and he started to withdraw the sword.

Vergil, though, didn't seem too intent on keeping to the original scene anymore either as he grabbed the sword before it could come out all the way.

"Do you remember _this _scene?" He asked Enzeru with a look of disgust on his face as it twisted and his eyes turned yellow and his clothes melted into him, replaced by blue leathery skin.

He smirked and grabbed it by the throat, halting the transformation.

"Yes, actually, I do. And I have no desire to see how powerful your demon form is. I can beat you no matter how you are. Not even _that _power is strong enough as it is to beat me."

The smirk changed back into his casual grin and he brought the sword out of Vergil's un-transforming stomach.

Enzeru shoved Vergil away and he flew through the air, caught by something before he could go off the edge.

One way or the other, it didn't matter.

He put his sword back up in its sheathe under his coat and snapped his fingers.

A second later the tower started trembling.

_Two _seconds later, the tower cracked and shattered, now undesired by Enzeru to stay in that shape.

As the ground fell away from his feet Enzeru felt his body instinctively make him stay in the air and he looked down at the two as they fell with the rubble of the tower.

Even as they fell he could see the demon-boy trying to protect the girl.

An image came back to his mind as he remembered doing something similar a long time ago.

But… remembering the past didn't bring it back, no matter _how _much power you possessed.

His grin disappeared and he looked at the air with a sad expression while seeing something else.

A girl with black hair matted with dirt and skin that would appear pale if it didn't have dust on it that made her appear as a statue.

There was a sword wound above her heart and she stared up at him with eyes stained red with blood, yet which had blue orbs in the middle that stared up at him.

More blood spilt from the corners of her mouth and she gave him a strange smile which had been more unnerving than anything else he'd ever seen.

She began to say something…

…then he blinked and she was gone, a falling pile of rubble where she had been.

"We'll see." He told the air in defiance and then turned away; getting started on something he'd been waiting for centuries to do.

* * *

Okay, maybe "soon" wasn't the word to describe how fast I updated, but hopefully the increase in chapter size will make up for it a bit. I'll update at least one or two more times before noon but I'm not sure how long it will take until I update them.


	32. Sleeping, problems and Griffy

Diva rubbed her head as she woke up and looked up to see what was going on.

In front of her was the sky; a strange sight since she wasn't used to flying.

When she felt softness under her hands and she looked down Diva realized she was on that big bird.

But hadn't that fallen down?

"Oh well. Maybe it decided to get up again." She thought.

She looked over and saw Vergil lying face down on the bird's back as well, though he looked like he was sleeping.

"Where are we going?" She asked the big bird who she'd named Griffy, after griffin.

"I am taking you to a human settlement for you to rest at." It spoke quietly back to her.

It sounded quieter than usual though.

She shrugged and looked at Vergil again.

"Vergil, wake up." She told him in a normal tone, expecting him to do so simply because she wanted him to.

It was Griffy that spoke back to her though, not Vergil.

"He was hit many times by falling debris before I caught the two of you. The man was protecting you from the debris."

Diva tilted her head and looked at him again.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm."

She waited a few seconds, and then nudged him.

"Hey, wake up Vergil." She spoke while jabbing him with her fingers.

He still didn't wake up so she pouted and looked at the hole in her dress.

"Well, darn. That's not good." She said, plucking at the cut fabric.

Diva shrugged again and looked at the sleeping Vergil.

"That's okay. You'll buy me a new one later, won't you?"

She took his silence as a yes.

"Great! I want a really nice one! And this time don't stab through it, okay?"

Vergil _still _didn't respond.

"Good."

"I… couldn't beat him." She heard him speak.

Diva looked at him and saw that his eyes were open, but he wasn't sitting up.

"So?" She asked him, not seeing what he meant.

"I vowed that I would kill him; I tried as hard as I could. And yet, I get the feeling he was playing with me the whole time we fought."

"You may not have killed him yet…" Griffy spoke up.

"But just because you have not yet defeated him, doesn't mean that you never will."

Vergil exhaled and closed his eyes again.

"Even when I devil-triggered he just grabbed my throat and stopped the transformation."

"Then _I'll _play with him next time and you can watch." Diva offered happily.

Vergil actually seemed to curl away from her, though he only moved a bit.

"You don't understand, Diva. I _vowed _to kill him. I can't just sit back and let someone else do it. Besides, you couldn't kill him anyway."

"What? Sure I could!" Her mood was unaffected by Vergil's sulking.

"The only special thing you can do other than move quickly and heal is bite people. Somehow I doubt that will be enough to kill the demon-king who went easy on me and still won."

"He is right. A vow is binding. If he vowed to kill that man then _he _is the one who must do it. However, he is also correct in that he is not strong enough to defeat that man. The only way for him to become strong enough is…" Griffy didn't finish the sentence.

Diva looked at Vergil with a puzzled expression.

"What?" She asked him.

His eyes opened and he stared out into the air.

"The only way for me to become strong enough to defeat Enzeru is by honing my demon abilities; practicing on utilizing the full extent of my demonic form."

She tilted her head, still not knowing what he meant.

Then all at once she understood.

"You mean you're going to be _that way _a lot?" Diva asked him, looking down now.

"Yes." He declared without any tone of remorse.

"I don't want you to!"

Vergil scoffed in response.

"I'm not doing it for _you_. This is something for _me_."

Diva's voice quieted down.

"But I don't like it when that demon thing is here."

Vergil closed his eyes again.

"Well, that's too bad."

Diva gave an immature scowl before swatting Vergil in the back of the head.

He grabbed it and whipped around towards her, glaring at Diva.

"We are here." Griffy spoke as if they hadn't said anything.

The two of them stopped looking at each other and looked down at what was supposed to be the human settlement; that little town that she'd sung in.

"It would appear the settlement was attacked since the last time I saw it."

Diva saw her "children" still down in the village wandering around.

"That's okay. We can stay there." She said smoothly, having missed their company for such a long time.

Griffy descended towards the "town" and the two of them got off its back.

"The quality of the village certainly hasn't improved much." Vergil said; commenting on how much the town had been destroyed.

All the buildings, which had been in bad shape to begin with, were either toppled over or broken in some other way.

The humans who had been living there were now dehydrated husks lying in the streets.

But it didn't bother Diva as she'd gotten used to these kinds of things over time.

"It's fine. We can still stay here for a bit. Why don't you-"

Diva stopped talking as she saw that Griffy wasn't breathing.

After a moment she saw something shiny and bluish white inside what she'd just noticed were a bunch of wounds.

Vergil walked over to Griffy and pulled the thing out; a ghost sword.

The thing in question disintegrated in his hand and he let his hand fall back to his side.

"Carrying us here must have been the thing that caused its wounds to open up and bleed again. If it hadn't helped us it most likely would have survived."

Diva looked down at its seemingly sleeping face, upset that the cute thing was dead.

"Why'd it help then?" She asked him.

He looked at Griffy, then back in the direction of where its "area" had been.

"Its purpose was to protect Mundus and its area. It failed at the first thing and must have known that with Enzeru's presence it would eventually fail at the second one as well. So it put its efforts into helping us kill Enzeru. Did you say you were thirsty earlier?" He asked coldly after what he'd said.

But for some reason she'd lost her thirst for now.

"No. I'm fine." She said before lying down next to Griffy and falling asleep in its soft feathers.

* * *

I know it could have been much better, but I said I would update again before noon and now I have. The next chapter later tonight should be better.


	33. You're going down

Diva was still asleep so Vergil roamed the town looking for anything that could be of use.

Truthfully it was just an excuse to move around while thinking, as if he stood still he might get jittery from all the thoughts going through his head.

He had to kill Enzeru. That much he knew.

But how he would do that was something he _didn't_ know.

Enzeru had effortlessly defeated him and even halted his devil-trigger transformation. There wasn't anything else he could do.

"Judgement Shield"; the technique he'd used to ward off Enzeru's attacks near the end was really the only advantage he had.

But he couldn't attack while surrounded by it and forming the shield took a few moments, so he couldn't just switch between attacking and defending. Especially since Enzeru's obvious battle-experience probably meant that it would only work a couple times, if that.

And then there was Diva, who he absolutely _knew _wouldn't just let him fight Enzeru.

Her creations or whatever she'd called them walked around the town as well but didn't attack him. It must have had something to do with him having some of the same blood as them

That was somewhat fortunate as it meant that if those sand-worms figured out a way to enter the town _they_ could confront the disgusting little bastards as opposed to Vergil being forced to continuously kill them for five hours.

The main question was where Enzeru had gone.

It was obvious he had to do something in order to escape the demon world; otherwise Vergil doubted he would have waited so long.

And considering he'd waited at all, it was likely there was a fixed location in which he could find the "key" or whatever he needed.

Vergil supposed that if he could just find whatever Enzeru needed and destroy it that would give him all the time he needed, but he didn't even know where to look.

"Perhaps if I fought him with my devil-trigger active since the beginning of the fight I could defeat him." He contemplated.

After all, he hadn't even been able to fight Enzeru in his demon state before he'd untransformed.

He also admitted that fighting Enzeru on the top of "Temen-ni-gru" or rather Enzeru's copy of it had "thrown him through a loop" because of the similarity between his and Dante's battle there.

Vergil gave something between a mocking laugh and a scoff.

"Heh. Maybe I'll go see Dante and tell him to help me with this. He owes me for helping him with Arkham after all." He mused.

Of course he would never ask Dante for his help, even if he required it. This was something that he and he alone would do.

Which was why he was out here walking around.

He knew what he had to do.

Vergil rounded a "town" corner for about the tenth time and heard something crash within the town.

"Hm. Maybe they got so hungry they began to feed on each other." Vergil thought, running towards the noise.

Or perhaps those sand-worms had shown up.

It didn't really matter; anything he could kill after having lost to someone else was a welcome enemy.

One of the few still-standing buildings up ahead had something blast through it and Vergil saw one of those monsters Diva had created lying on the ground, not moving.

Most disturbing was the fact that it was engulfed in bluish white flame.

"Perfect." Vergil muttered as he stopped running and instead walked towards the building and the person who was walking through the hole in it.

Not surprisingly it was a man with long black hair, crimson-colored gloves and a long white overcoat.

Enzeru noticed him and turned, brandishing that shifty grin of his.

"Oh, Vergil. How wonderful to see you again. You aren't following me, are you?" He asked casually.

"I could say the same to you. What are you doing here?"

He was not in the mood for a long drawn-out conversation.

"What am I doing." He said as if stating what Vergil had just spoke, looking from side to side in a more mature version of Diva's innocent "fun-things" search before looking back at him.

"Well, I'm looking for something I left here. But it would seem that something attacked this place while I was gone." Enzeru spoke, looking at the creature dissolving in the blue flame.

"You wouldn't happen to know where a certain dagger is would you?" He asked as if it were still a normal little talk.

"So that's what you're after huh?" Vergil thought while trying to remember if he saw anything like it in the town before.

"I'm afraid 'a certain dagger' is a bit too vague. In any case I didn't pay much attention to this town when I came through it before, nor do I see any reason to assist my enemy."

Enzeru looked at him as if he was overreacting.

"Your enemy? I thought we were buddies." He added, his grin becoming more smirk-like.

Vergil scoffed in response.

"Buddies? You've thrown me off a tower twice now. If nothing else that's definitely a hindrance to a friendship."

He shrugged.

"Don't worry about the little things. Though I suppose asking for something that you don't even know of _is_ kind of rude. Sorry about that." He spoke before turning away and walking somewhere else.

"Where are you going?" He asked Enzeru seriously.

He didn't stop walking.

"I'm going to find the dagger of course."

Vergil Judgement Cut'ed the building near Enzeru, causing a crater to appear in it and blow Enzeru's overcoat in the wind.

He stopped walking and sighed.

"You really _should _find a hobby Vergil. I hear they can be quite relaxing." He said warmly, still not turning back.

"Hmph. Say what you want. I'm going to win this time; unless you magically create the basement of Temen-ni-gru right here."

He could see Enzeru's grin turn into a scowl.

"I have no wish to see _that_ place again." He said angrily, though his voice was still normal in volume.

Vergil twisted Yamato in the air and formed the Judgment Shield around him.

"Don't worry. You won't." Vergil said, his tone changing.

Enzeru glanced back at him.

"Because…" Transparent runes appeared in the air.

"_**You're going down**_." Then he devil-triggered and air-tricked towards Enzeru, who was grinning again.

"Persistent, aren't we?"

* * *

Short again I know but I'll get started on the next chapter soon. If anyone can think of something that would make my story "better" by the way, please feel free to share your thoughts with me. I'm trying to work on being more descriptive but it's difficult for me to do as it is harder(for me) than simply realizing when subjects change and entering. (my previous paragraph problem for those who weren't reading the chapters in their early stages)

H-bomber's questions: 1) I haven't made Vergil use the summoned swords yet since I don't think he should have had them in DMC3 to begin with. I don't have an absolute hate for them or anything, I just believe that the designers gave him those as an option for ranged attacks, seeing as he doesn't like to use guns. So in this story I am treating it as an ability Enzeru knows, having learned it during his time as the dark knight which Vergil would have by DMC1. 2) I do plan for Dante to come into the story, though it won't be for a while. Whether he'll be paired up with Saya or not is something I haven't decided yet thought it's quite possible.


	34. What it takes

He Rapid Slashed at Enzeru, who blocked the attack by drawing out his sword and guarding with it.

But Vergil had been expecting this and turned around, slashing at Enzeru's back.

Once again he blocked, however, Vergil used his greatly-increased strength to throw the sword from Enzeru's grip and into a building.

After that he kicked Enzeru across the street, right behind him the whole time.

When he landed Vergil was already there and stabbed through his stomach, then twisted, pulled the sword out and slashed across his chest as he finished the spin.

Enzeru stumbled back then looked up and his eyes were bluish white, as were the flames surrounding his hands.

He smirked and threw the fire at Vergil, but he air-tricked past both the fireballs and Enzeru, performing a Rapid Slash as he did so.

Again Enzeru was forced to stumble but this time moved right into Vergil, who was waiting in the special Judgement Cut stance.

Enzeru barely had the chance to look up before he was entrapped in a sphere of black hell.

When it disappeared the forearms of Enzeru's overcoat were gone and his wounded arms came away from his face, which was covered in cuts.

Vergil smirked, though his demonic mouth was much bigger so it only just barely parted.

"_**You will not forget this devil's power.**_" He said before air-tricking out of sight and filling the area with more spheres.

He watched in what he noticed was some kind of joy as Enzeru ran to his sword and tried to dodge and block off the strengthened attacks.

Enzeru was failing at it.

By the time Vergil had finally finished and came back down, dramatically sheathing Yamato, Enzeru's overcoat had various cuts and tears in it and his body was washed with the crimson redness of his own blood.

Yet he was still grinning.

Vergil didn't particularly care though, not anymore.

All he cared about was killing him and taking both the title and power of demon-king for himself.

"_**Where's your motivation?**_" He taunted the wounded man.

Enzeru looked up at him again and his grin turned into a smirk.

"You certainly _are _stronger than this little human form of mine can handle. I admit, if I'd still been fully human this would be the end."

Vergil's eyebrows would have furrowed if he had any right now.

He'd assumed Enzeru was always a demon, just with a human shape.

Still, it didn't matter.

He rushed towards Enzeru and sliced at his neck, ready to end this.

Surprisingly though, a strange-looking hand grabbed the blade and held it still.

Then Enzeru looked up at him again and Vergil could see his teeth; now bleached white with sharp pointed ends.

His eyes were pure, radiating yellow now, though that bluish white fire seemed to sieve out through the sides of them.

"Considering you're a half-demon yourself, you of all people should know that _all _half-demons have a human form and a demon form."

Enzeru pushed Vergil back and swiped at him just to make sure he would back away to a safe distance.

"When I became the dark knight after being trapped in this demon world I was transformed partially into a demon, though because of my already strong powers I retained some human within myself as well."

His overcoat turned into a cape, filled with the purple color back in his room and trimmed on the sides with white.

His crimson-colored gloves fused into his hands and made the now gauntlet-like fists the same color.

His arms and legs were now covered in white "armor" which looked like a much harder and segmented version of Vergil's skin, despite the change in color.

The armor-plated vest that he wore before was now replaced with an elaborate-looking white breast-plate.

His head meanwhile was covered in a medieval-like helm that allowed his long, unchanged black hair to come out the back of it.

"Because of this, my human powers are what I usually use, as no opponent in the past has been worthy of my showing this form to them. _This _is _my _devil form."

Vergil stood there, frozen.

In the blink of an eye Vergil was penetrated by countless ghost swords; once simply bladed shapes, now all resembling Enzeru's sword down to the finest detail.

They erupted and engulfed Vergil in the blue-white flames that burned through his demonic flesh until they and his devil form were gone, him kneeling on the ground in his human state.

He looked up at Enzeru and didn't see an amused look as he'd expected to.

"Vergil, your devil-power is indeed superior to my human abilities. And considering how premature your strength is, it _would _have been stronger than my _demonic _abilities as well."

His gaze fell back to the ground, unable to look up anymore because of the strain it put on his body.

"But I have had centuries to hone and perfect my power, unhindered by any morals or ambitions other than getting stronger. You have had _decades_, and now have something you wish to do more than simply gain power."

Vergil fell down, only holding himself up with his arms.

"I meant what I said before; you are too inexperienced, even as much as you have learned in this short period of time, to defeat me."

Then he fell down all the way, watching the blood pool out in front of him.

Enzeru's form had returned to its human shape and Vergil heard him sheathe his sword.

His vision started to fade and he felt the last remaining strength in him leave.

"Be grateful… that you do _not _have what it takes to defeat me."

Vergil's eyes closed and his body went limp.

"It isn't worth it."

* * *

Even shorter than before but it got the point across. I'll update again before noon but I'm not sure when exactly.


	35. The most important thing

"...il!"

"V..gil"

"Vergil! Wake up!" He heard someone yelling at him as his mind came back from blackness.

A few seconds later his eyes slowly flickered open.

Diva was the one who'd been trying to wake him up and she smiled that happy childish smile down on him.

"'something I want more' huh?" He thought to himself out loud, causing Diva to frown.

"What?" She asked him, confused.

He shook his head a bit as if to clear his thoughts and silently say "nothing", noticing that his hair had fallen down from its usual place.

Then he remembered exactly what happened and jolted forward, sitting up and giving himself a sudden fever-spike as he realized his body didn't have the energy to keep him up.

Vergil started to fall back but Diva kept him from hitting the pavement by putting an arm under him, something that would have surprised him if he had the sense to know why he didn't feel hard ground underneath his back.

"Where is Enzeru?" He asked her.

Her frown deepened and no longer looked confused, but upset.

"He… went back towards that tower thing. It looked like he was searching for something."

Vergil sighed, knowing where to head next.

Then he looked up into Diva's eyes and decided what he had to do, closing them as if the decision was too hard for him to make.

She wouldn't let him leave, and he wasn't going to be able to get past her either, especially in the again-worn out shape he was in.

In fact, he didn't even _want _to leave her. It seemed so much more important to make her happy than to simply get some stupid title and Vergil thought about how simple the decision actually was.

"Let's go back to that house." He said to her quietly, talking about the home of the dead leader.

She gave a sad smile, then helped him up and pulled his arm around her neck so she could help him walk.

Vergil reached a shaky hand down to pick up Yamato and its sheathe, then they continued down the street.

He noticed that her "children" were on the sides of the street; watching them with as close to a worried expression as unintelligent bat-looking monsters could have.

"Hmph. Just because I have blood like theirs they worry about me, huh?" He asked out loud.

Diva had a suppressed smile on her face, though it was content.

"You're their family, and they can't think for themselves. It only makes sense." She said back quietly as they spotted the house, strangely one of the few that hadn't been damaged very badly.

He looked up at the sky as they made their way closer and closer to the house.

"It's too bad that doesn't work for us." He remarked on Diva's and his situations.

She looked as sad as he felt, but still held that smile.

"I think my sister loves me… she just cares about the humans more." Diva spoke as if accepting something even though she didn't like it.

Thinking about it, that seemed to be Dante's and his relationship, though there was less overt-love and more fighting-to-the-death. Though he was sure Diva had her fill of that back in the human world as well.

Diva spotted something and leaned down to pick it up with her free hand, putting it in Vergil's hand.

It felt soft but he wasn't sure what it was as he closed his hand around it, making sure not to damage it.

Finally they made it to the house and they moved inside through the door-less entrance.

Diva and he made their way up the staircase and into a bedroom, where they sat down on the bed as Vergil leaned Yamato against the headboard, letting the end rest on the floor.

Vergil closed his eyes but then reopened them in surprise as Diva slid his legs up onto the bed as well.

She gave him the childish smile again, her "get-out-jail-free-card" whenever he got angry at her.

He always just found it impossible to stay angry at her when she gave that smile.

"Sleep here. They'll make sure no one comes here so you don't have to worry about anything. Just rest." Diva said, her smile becoming sadder again.

Vergil felt the ends of his mouth move up a bit in as close to a smile as he usually got.

"Would you like to lie down as well?" He asked her softly, seeming to surprise her.

Soon after though her surprise melted away and she got the smile again.

"Sure." She spoke quietly as she moved past Vergil on the bed and lay down next to him.

"What kind of dress did you say you wanted?" He offered once she was settled in.

She looked up at him again, surprised once more.

But as before her surprise disappeared and she lay down again, this time resting her head on his chest.

"I want a sleeveless white one. It'll have ruffles near the bottom and a blue scarf too." Diva said while closing her eyes; imagining the dress in her head.

"Where would we find that?"

She nuzzled against his chest and made a sound like a human purr.

"Somewhere."

Vergil felt the attempt-at-a-smile grow bigger at her…cute response.

They lay there for a few seconds in silence, Diva's arm lying on his chest as well.

"Vergil?" She asked sleepily.

"What is it?" He responded softly.

"When we… go home, will you stay with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we go back to the human world, you won't leave me will you?"

Vergil felt himself give a sad smile, even though she couldn't see it.

"No. I won't leave you."

"Promise?"

It suddenly became a bit harder to breathe.

"Yes, I promise. When we go back to the human world, I won't leave you."

"Mm. Thank you." Diva sounded almost completely asleep now.

They lay there for at least an hour, Vergil enjoying having Diva so close.

Then, when he was sure she was asleep, he started to gently move her over.

When Diva hugged him in her sleep as a response Vergil felt his heart quicken, then softly hugged her back.

After her hug loosened he again gently moved her over and laid her head on the pillow.

Vergil pulled himself slowly off the bed, then brought the blankets up over Diva, staring down at her for a few seconds before picking up Yamato and walking first out of the room, then down the stairs, and finally out of the house.

He walked through the town and looked at what Diva had put in his hand; a blue rose.

It caused him to smile sadly again, it being a remembrance of Diva.

The rose which didn't grow naturally in the human world, picked up by her as they happened to be going down the street.

It was truly the greatest gift he'd ever received.

Continuing through the town until he got to the walls, he examined them first from the ground, and then jumped quietly up onto them, making sure there was enough of that unique stone to keep the sand creatures from getting in.

He stared out into the night sky, up at the moon.

"The human world; when we go there, I'll never leave you." He spoke before bringing the blue rose up in his hand, like he'd done with Dante's amulet on Temen-ni-gru.

Then he brought it against his forehead and reaffirmed his promise before swiping it through his hair, pulling it back into its normal style and letting the petals fall behind him, carried off into the wind.

"When this is over and we can go back to the human world together, I'll finally be able to be happy, with you." He spoke, the sad smile dissapearing.

"Until then…" His humanity-filled eyes closed and he felt just how emotion was going through his system.

"Goodbye…Diva."

Then his eyes opened and the emotion vanished; his happiness, sadness, worry and everything else disappearing into the night like the blue rose.

Replaced by determination and strength.

Vergil jumped off the wall, heading towards the ruins of the tower and Enzeru.


	36. Where has love gone?

He was gone.

Diva didn't even have to open her eyes to know that he'd left.

Vergil was gone. She could feel it.

She curled herself up in the bed.

"Why? Why would he act like that and then leave?" She asked the silent room.

Of course, it didn't respond.

Her eyes opened wide for a second before narrowing to almost close again.

"So that's why." She commented quietly.

He'd been nothing but nice to her, and then left without so much as a goodbye.

It was probably his idea of a farewell.

"Idiot…" She spoke, wanting to cry.

She didn't want him to tell her whatever she wanted to hear; she wanted him to _stay _with her.

She let out a shaky sigh before pushing herself up.

Diva had known he was going to leave.

She didn't know _how _long she'd known, but she had.

Why did she let him go then?

She looked back down at the bed, like a child looking away from someone who's scolding them.

"I don't know." Diva whispered, lonely.

Eventually she managed to get out of bed; sliding her legs out into the cold air before putting them on the hard wooden floor.

"Where has love gone?" She asked, an English-talk version of one of the lyrics from the song she sang.

Her whole life had been exactly like the song.

Since the beginning no one ever cared about her and instead of the fancy dresses, toys and other things that Saya received, all Diva had gotten in exchange for her suffering was loneliness and more pain.

She didn't even have a _name _until Saya found her and called her "Diva", after her voice.

Saya had come by frequently; talking to her from outside the tower and, later, outside the door of the room she was locked in.

One day Saya let her out, and then left to do something else.

The first thing Diva had done was make those people who had hurt her or ignored her stop living.

But when Saya, the only person who had ever been kind to her, looked at her like she was a monster Diva had _felt _like one.

In the century or so that followed Saya had made it her mission to kill Diva, all because she "murdered" those people.

At first Diva had tried to explain to Saya that she hadn't "murdered" them, she'd just made _them _feel bad too. But she never understood.

Over the years Diva created more and more chevaliers, but she still felt just as lonely as she had up in the tower.

And of course, Saya took _them _too.

In the end the two of them fought and stabbed each other with swords coated in their blood; the only thing that could kill other chiropteran aside from complete destruction.

She had wanted the two of them to go together; so they could have fun again like they used to for the rest of eternity.

But, as luck would have it, Diva _again _was subjected to worse luck than Saya and only she had crystallized, which is what Chiroptera did when they died.

Her own sister had killed her, and now the only other person that took away that emptiness was gone too.

A single tear fell from her eyes before she looked forward with a much more mature and determined look than usual.

She didn't want him to leave, and she wouldn't _let _him.

Her expression became more subdued but Diva's resolve hadn't.

She stood up and walked out of the room, past the broken and empty display case that once housed a dagger, and left the house.

She sung for the others and soon they all came to her, ready to do whatever it was that she wanted.

"We're going there." She told them; pointing at the castle she'd woken up in.

If he'd left her to go kill that guy then if the guy died he would come back. He had to.

And once he was dead the two of them could go back to the human world and be happy.

Then everything would be okay.

* * *

I know it was both short and not the best chapter. But considering that Diva rarely gets a significant role in the story unless she's being(my attempt at) funny or getting hurt I thought that she at least deserved a bit of a backstory for those who haven't watched the show she's from. I'll update in a few hours. There'll be at least two more chapters before noon since I already know what I want to do.


	37. Backtracking

The ice area hadn't changed much.

Though there were now large piles of ice and snow from where the edges of the cliffs had fallen down, the rest of it was exactly the same.

Though it didn't seem as cold as before

Not that it really mattered anyway.

He'd already descended the first cliff and was making his way _over_ the "archway" since the original path had been buried underneath all the ice that fell down.

"It's doubtful another guardian has been placed in this area, considering Mundus' death would have put a halt to the command structure. If there _was _one." He thought before hopping down from the ice pile, into the first clearing.

Vergil was a bit worn out, as he'd initiated devil-trigger and used the modified air-trick that it provided to get here more quickly in case-

So he wasn't kept from continuing his objective.

Because of this he decided to take a few seconds for a break.

The cliffs that made up the walls of the clearing hadn't lost their peaks for some reason so it was completely empty, save for the snow that had piled up somewhat in the middle.

"It's strange that Enzeru would go back to the tower if he'd destroyed it. Perhaps he left something there." Vergil thought while taking some deeper breaths.

It wasn't important _why _he came back, but since Vergil had stopped for a few moments he had time to think about it.

His eyes scanned the area, looking for anything that could hold his interest for a few more seconds.

They fell upon a familiar blood stain on the wall-

And he was ready to move again.

Vergil braced himself, then kicked off the ground towards the ice pile and then air-tricked further along it until he was close enough where he could simply walk towards the end.

In a few seconds he'd reached the next and final clearing.

The large hole the Wolare had knocked him down into was already being filled up with snow, at least an eighth of it covered with the cold whiteness.

The doorway that he'd sliced open was still empty and had nothing restricting his access to it.

He air-tricked again and landed on the other side of the hole, next to the gateway.

Noticing that the Wolare was both still there and still dead, he continued through the gateway, ignoring the pain the light on the other side caused his eyes.

Vergil jumped down to the white tile below and barely moved from his walking position before continuing forward, towards the tower.

Though the area was absolutely huge, being acres and acres long, since there wasn't any scenery or rises in the ground he could clearly see the ruins of Mundus' tower.

Enzeru didn't appear to be there but he'd keep walking towards it until he got close enough to make sure.

This time he would devil-trigger immediately and hinder Enzeru's movements with Judgement Cuts, using the opening in his guard to cut his head off before he could devil-trigger himself.

It wasn't a big dramatic fight, but then again his desire wasn't to _fight _Enzeru; it was to _kill _him.

How that was accomplished was unimportant.

Vergil sighed mentally, not allowing the physical world to witness such a weakness, and devil-triggered.

Regardless of his mood, this long journey across the sea of white tiles was, at the very least, uninteresting.

So he decided to get a "head start" over Enzeru and devil-triggered, then he began air-tricking again.

It would take quite a while to reach the tower if he simply walked and time wasn't a thing he had on his side; there was no way of knowing when Enzeru planned on going to the human world and he wasn't going to let him escape there simply because he wanted to pace himself.

Only a few thousand more yards and he would be there.

The normal distance he could travel with a single air-trick, though it varied depending on whether he was going horizontally, vertically or diagonally, was about ten yards.

In this demon-state it was a hundred.

And he could feel it getting better; already approaching a hundred-and-ten.

The hell-phoenix had been correct; his power _was _becoming stronger the longer he was in devil-trigger form.

In fact, it didn't even take any energy from him to maintain the form anymore. He actually had _more _energy the longer he was in the form.

Still, his demon state _did _still have _some _limits, but they were becoming less and less restrictive.

The _appearance_ of his demon form was even changing.

Its original blue color was turning greyer and his body, which was leathery before, was starting to actually form armor on it.

The head was even becoming different, though he hadn't had enough time nor the tools to stop and see how it looked.

To be honest he was somewhat curious as to what it would look like when fully matured, also wondering what Sparda had looked like when his demonic form was still unfinished.

In any case, he was almost to the ruins.

After another minute or so he was standing right next to the rubble, looking out at the ruins of the tower.

The rubble varied in height in length depending on how intact the pieces were.

But after walking amongst the rubble for a few minutes Vergil noticed Enzeru… _wasn't _here.

He saw a familiar-looking slab of rock, the thing that had lay on top of him when the tower collapsed, and thought of who had been lying on it, making it harder to push it up.

"**You… _whore_**." He commented angrily before turning back towards the town, knowing that she'd told him the wrong destination on purpose.

* * *

I don't know about anyone else but I'm not really satisfied with the quality of this chapter. Though since I've already gone through it and added things I can't think of what else to do. So I apologize for this. I will try to make the next one better.


	38. Milkguy, big cute worm thing and saliva

"We're almost there." She commented somewhat seriously despite how boring it was just moving through the desert.

Diva had never done anything that she didn't find fun, so doing this made her feel like she was the living dead.

She looked at her hands and feet to make sure they weren't rotting like zombies did, and then looked ahead.

Actually, _she _wasn't running anywhere.

Her "children" were running and one of them was carrying her.

The only reason she'd even ran herself before was because she knew Vergil wouldn't carry her.

"Vergil…" She spoke sadly as she remembered for about the millionth time how he'd left her.

But it was okay.

She would kill that milk-guy and then they could be together.

Diva giggled a bit when she thought of how absurd "milk-guy" was.

When she woke up after they got to the town she'd gone looking for Vergil.

But by the time she found him he was hurt really badly.

The guy wearing white had said something about searching for a dagger, which he'd evidently found at that house.

But he'd also mentioned that he needed to rest, not used to "being in my demonic form" he'd said.

It hadn't even occurred to Diva, and it still didn't, that the man stopping to chat was strange for most people.

Since he went off in the direction of the castle and it was the closest place, _that _was probably where he was.

Diva hadn't wanted to lie to Vergil about where that guy went, but she knew that if _he _killed him he might not come back.

And... that guy had felt like he was lonely so on some level she'd wanted to do it herself. Which, for some reason, felt right.

She didn't know why it felt like he was lonely, as he'd never _looked _sad, but she could almost _feel _it when other people were lonely; she had a lot of experience being lonely herself after all.

They were very close, which was good because she was getting _really _bored.

Oh, and those cute worm-things were attacking her "children" too.

But that wasn't anything to worry about since they couldn't die unless they were subjected to Saya's blood or completely destroyed.

Diva frowned in thought as she wondered if it was even _possible _for her to die down here.

After a few seconds though she lost interest.

They were almost at the gate when the sand in front of them exploded and something came out of the sand.

Rubbing the sand away from her eyes, Diva looked up at the thing, smiling happily in response.

"It's a _big _cute worm-thing!" She exclaimed in joy at the supersized version of the original worm-demons.

The rubber-like skin of its was more obvious now since alost all of the tan-colored thing was shining with a thick, plastic sheen.

It's eyes were still beady compared to the rest of its body, but were bigger than her whole body.

The thing made a weird noise, like someone gurgling but much louder and much deeper.

Then drool fell from its mouth and into the sand below it; melting through it before turning the sand a few feet below it into glass.

"Ewww." She pointed at the thing accusingly while saying it.

The others in her little group lunged at the thing, biting and tearing at its body.

But whatever they tore or bit off was instantly replaced by more sand and the thing looked down at her, fixing its huge black eyes on _her_ specifically.

Diva tilted her head, looking up at the thing in mild interest before looking away, bored now.

The huge worm-thing fell down towards her and the chiropteran who was carrying her ran away in a beastly manner.

The wind that was forced out as the thing fell however, blew her off her "steed" and blew her dress up as she flew through the air.

"Hey!" She yelled at it childishly while pushing her dress down and landing in an unintentional flip at the same time.

The thing started to slide back up into the air while Diva brushed sand off the dress.

"Go away. You're boring me now." She dismissed it.

The thing either didn't hear her or didn't understand because it lunged towards her, the huge teeth threatening to chomp down on her small frame.

She just shrugged though and used her fast-moving speed thing to get on top of it, tapping the thing's head so it would pay attention.

"You. Are. Bore. Ing." She said slowly.

It threw her off and she landed on one of the castles walls.

The chiropterans were still attacking its base, but the worm-thing didn't even seem to be noticing them.

Diva looked at the thing for a second before turning away and peering across the yard inside the walls.

The guy wasn't outside, but he might be resting inside.

Then when she started to see something in the darkened doorway of the main building Diva heard that thing coming at her again.

Jumping casually out of its path, Diva continued to look at the doorway and saw something coming out when a huge shadow enveloped her.

There wasn't enough time to get out of the way as the mouth closed around her.

The teeth missed her but the worm-thing swallowed her whole and she slid down on some disgusting sticky thing into its stomach.

Seconds passed and the worm looked as pleased as a huge worm can be.

Then it blew apart and Diva was standing, drenched in the thing's saliva, on the sandy ground.

"Gross." She said in pure disgust while shivering at just how weird it felt.

A moment later she started dancing around, swiping at her arms and legs as the saliva started burning into her.

"Ow, ow ow!"

While getting rid of an especially larg gob of disgusting acid-salive Diva noticed that the chiropterans around her were looking at something above her head.

Ignoring the burning sensations for a second, she looked up-

-and the blunt side of one of the things' teeth landed squarely on her head.

She stumbled about for a few seconds with motor skills resembling those of a holiday drunk before falling backwards onto the ground.

Another one of those things started to form and she looked up at it with dazed eyes.

But it didn't even get the chance to focus its attention on her before the thing was engulfed in bluish white flame, disintegrating into the air.

Then she saw someone in a white coat walking towards her and the dizziness turned into unconsciousness.

* * *

I'll update again before noon. Not sure exactly when though.


	39. The reason

"Ow. That hurt." Diva said as she woke up, rubbing her head.

When she noticed she was in a building, Diva looked around and noticed it was the inside of that building with the huge snake.

At first she thought she would stand up; but when it turned out she had been lying on the organ's bench and her foot stepped into the air, she decided against it.

Of course, gravity didn't let her get off with a warning and she had to thrust a hand out to the nearby wall to keep from falling down on her face.

The sound of someone laughing nearby told her that she wasn't alone, and Diva looked behind her, seeing that guy in white, Enzeru, standing there with his grin; slightly parted as he'd just finished laughing.

"Forgive me. I have kind of a… cruel sense of humor."

She shrugged and stood up, looking at him.

"I'm here to kill you, just so you know." She said casually before yawning.

He shrugged much like she had.

"Okay, that's fine. So where's my buddy Vergil then? It seems that if there's a plan to kill me he'd be the head-chairman."

Diva shook her head.

"There's no plan, I'm just going to kill you. That's all."

Enzeru seemed amused by her response.

"You still didn't tell me where he is." He teased.

"I don't want to."

He turned away from her.

"He left you didn't he?"

Diva's eyes widened slightly in surprise but returned to normal soon after.

"Yes."

Enzeru sighed.

"That's too bad." She heard him say without any humor in his tone.

"When you die though, he'll come back. I know he will."

He sighed again and turned back towards her, holding no grin at all.

"I wish it was that way. In any case, I'm afraid you can't kill me."

Diva tilted her head out of curiosity.

"Why?"

He looked directly into her eyes.

"There's… something I need to do. I've waited centuries to do it and I'm afraid that even if he _would _return to you I still wouldn't let you kill me.

Diva frowned.

"That's not fair. Besides, you don't know he won't come back." She said defensively.

Enzeru looked at her, but for a moment seemed to be looking at something else entirely.

Then he looked away again.

"I think you'll find that the world often isn't fair."

She certainly knew_ that_.

"What do you have to do?" Diva asked, curious.

He looked back at her over his shoulder before looking ahead once again.

"There's someone I have to bring back."

"You can do that?"

He turned back towards her, something resembling a sad grin on his face.

"Heh. Kind of. It requires the power of the ruler of a world. Since no one knows who rules the human world, as there are so many theories, Mundus was the only viable option."

"What's the knife for?" She asked, gesturing with her head towards his hand that held the small weapon .

Enzeru glanced at it for a second then looked back at her again.

"In order to bring someone back from the dead you have to, as I said, have the power of the ruler of a world. But you also have to have something that the person you are reviving owned. This is her dagger."

"Her?"

He looked up into the air and she saw that sadness she'd sensed before prevalent in his yellow eyes.

"Lucina."

Then he looked away and sat down on one of the stump of the pillars, Diva following him though she didn't sit down anywhere.

"She was a priestess when she was alive and we were… well, lovers is the general term, but I've heard that in the human world it doesn't hold the same meaning anymore. We loved each other. So much so that when one was committed to something the other automatically was as well."

His sad grin became a sad smile.

"I remember one time when she was lighting incense I tried to as well and almost burned down the temple because I dropped the lighting stick into one of the cloth-decorations on the floor."

He seemed to remember she was there and shook his head a bit, as if to keep himself from straying from the subject.

"Anyway, she was killed a long time ago while we were fighting demons and ever since then I've waited until Mundus would expose himself so that I could kill him. I changed my personality over the years so that he would let his guard down but he was too paranoid."

Enzeru stood up again and looked directly at her.

"If Vergil and you hadn't shown up, I would most likely still be in my room defending it from dust-mites." He said, his smile becoming less sad.

Then he turned away.

"I'm going to the cliff. You're welcome to come with me, but I still can't let you kill me."

After that he started walking out of the massive room and she followed him.

Diva didn't know if she still wanted to kill him anymore but she certainly didn't want to _lose_ him after having travelled this far.

They walked out of the building and across the courtyard.

She saw the worm-things standing outside the gate and wondered what was going on.

Enzeru snapped his fingers and what had until now been an invisible barrier flickered, then disappeared, allowing the things to enter the castle.

He didn't even break stride as those ghost-swords of his flew threw the dozens of sand-worms and the two of them walked out onto the stone outside the gate.

Around them the things started reforming but Enzeru just brought up one hand and tensed it.

The whole area of sand around the stone and at least a few hundred yards past it erupted in bluish white fire before being melted into glass; effectively stopping the sand-worms from appearing again.

Enzeru continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Looking up she could see a cliff far away and wondered what was going to happen next.

* * *

Last update before noon, though it's possible I'll update again before nightime. No gaurantees though.


	40. Mine

She wasn't here.

"_**Where did that girl go?**_" He asked in a frustrated manner while glaring at the bed.

The town was completely void of any life forms.

She wasn't here.

Those bat-monsters of hers weren't here.

No one was here.

He thought for a moment before deciding to proceed to the nearest area; that castle.

It was the most likely place she would go, though if she had simply gone there for some random reason or to go see Enzeru he wasn't sure.

Either way, it didn't matter.

She was unimportant.

All that mattered…

…was Enzeru and the power he would gain when he killed him.

Nothing else existed.

Yet if she _had _gone after him that suggested that she had something else in mind.

"_**Damn it! She tricked me!**_" His beastly voice yelled at the air.

As a physical metaphor of how angry he was, Vergil left the house; leaving a trail of Judgement Cuts behind him to level the whole thing.

Then his gauntlet-looking hand beat into the building right near it, destroying _that _as well.

When he realized there was nothing within immediate reach to take his anger out on he simply stamped into the concrete; creating a deep crater where he was standing.

"_**She gave me false directions, and then used that opportunity to go after him herself! If that girl thinks she can take the power she is sorely mistaken.**_" He growled while looking in the direction of the castle.

It must have been at least ten miles away so it took him _two_ air-tricks before he arrived there, glaring at the building that he knew she'd been in.

He could smell her scent; it was…

"_**Like a blue rose. Heh. How appropriate.**_"

It didn't matter.

If she killed Enzeru and took his power he would simply kill _her _in place of Enzeru.

Either way, the power was going to be _his_.

* * *

I know it was ridiculously short. Don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter.


	41. The fallen, part 1

It had only taken one jump for Enzeru to make it up the huge cliff, but he must have been cheating. She could have sworn she saw him _flying_.

Meanwhile, Diva had to do her quick-thing multiple times before making it up to the top.

She almost fell when her shoes landed in shin-deep water, but Enzeru grabbed her hand and pulled her up onto the land.

"No fair! Where'd the water come from?" She pouted.

He gave a quick chuckle in response and she glared childishly back at him; Enzeru took a few steps away, holding up his hands in mock-fear.

"Well it's your own fault. There was water _falling _from here. Didn't you think that would mean there was water up _here_?"

Diva shrugged and looked around.

It almost looked like a stone-age version of an opera theater; there was a kind of stream running through the majority of the area and the pillar-like rock formations on the side of it made it feel like some kind of grand hall.

"Heh. Well, anyway. This is it." He said, confirming what she had been wondering.

Walking her way out of the stream to lean against one of the "pillars", Diva shook her shoes and the bottom of her dress to get any larger amounts of water out of them as she spoke.

"So why did you have to do it here?" She asked, mildly curious.

"Actually," He spoke while getting out of the stream himself, though on the opposite side.

"I didn't. It could have been done anywhere. But it seems like the fitting place to end it."

Diva looked up at him, much more curious now.

"What do you mean?"

"This is where it is going to end; the battle between him and me. He's coming here now. We're going to fight, and one of us is going to die."

She frowned deeply now.

"Why can't you just bring her back and leave with her?" She asked innocently.

Enzeru laughed a bit before speaking again.

"Well, that's not my style. Not to mention that even if I _did _he would still keep coming after me and Lucina. And lastly, from a shear _winning _standpoint, giving him more time to get stronger would be foolish."

Diva looked at the ground.

"Please don't kill him."

"Don't worry. _He _may not be the one to die. I can almost _feel _how powerful he's become."

"But I don't want _you _to die either." She said, looking at him.

Enzeru actually seemed surprised; though it was possible he was just putting it on.

He looked back at the ground.

"I _deserve _to die."

She pouted again.

"No one _deserves _to die! Anyway, just because you cheated in getting up here, doesn't mean I want you dead!"

He laughed again.

"I didn't mean I deserved to die because of _that_. It's because of something else."

"What?"

He looked up at her, that sad expression on his face again.

"I… _let _Lucina die."

"How could you? There's no way you'd want to bring her back if you just let her to die."

He sighed.

"I didn't _want_ her to die. She wanted to do something that we both knew would kill her and I just couldn't keep her from doing it. It wasn't my choice."

"That's dumb!"

He looked up at her, some undeniably-genuine surprise on his face now.

"If you loved her you should have kept her safe! And if she was going to do something that would get her killed you should have stopped her!"

Enzeru looked back at the ground again.

"Perhaps you're right. Maybe I _should _have stopped her."

Then he looked at Diva, a warm smile on his face.

"But it doesn't matter now. Because she's coming back."

Diva smiled as well and nodded her head.

He pushed himself away from the "pillar" he'd been leaning against and drew the dagger out from its sheathe while closing his eyes and bringing it up to his face.

"Dalla richiesta di questo righello, aumento." He spoke in some language.

Then he opened his eyes again, them glowing the color that mean guy's tennis-ball things had.

"In the name of this ruler, rise." Enzeru repeated in English.

His eyes returned to normal and he seemed to become weak for a second.

Enzeru looked up at her and made his way through and out of the stream, putting the dagger back in its sheathe and handing both to Diva.

"The power of the demon-king has been transferred to this dagger. When the fight is over, the dagger will disappear and Lucina will appear."

She took the dagger, confused.

"Unless I am the one killed of course. In that case, she will remain dead, and whoever draws the dagger out of its sheathe next will gain the power of the demon-king."

She looked up into his eyes, which held warmness in them despite how sad he was.

"Until the battle is over, I entrust this to you. Please… protect it."

Diva looked down at it again, and then looked back at him, nodding.

Then the two stepped away from each other.

"How… did she die?" She asked after a few seconds.

It took him a few moments before he started to respond.

"She was killed by a demon."

"Do you know who it was?"

His fists clenched.

"Yes."

But he didn't get the chance to tell her who before there was a blur at the edge of the waterfall.

"_**There you are.**_"


	42. The fallen, part 2

_He walked down the winding staircase, passing various circle-shaped lights, one of which was red._

_He made sure his weapons were secure before walking out of the small room at the bottom and into a hall, filled with massive chess-pieces._

_His eyes scanned the room, the age-old orbs taking in everything with both quiet curiosity and solemn deduction_

_There were eight damned-pawns and two damned-bishops._

_He pulled the sword from his back and threw it into one of the damned-pawns' heads; killing it instantly and making the demonic stone it was made of shatter._

_Before the sword could land on the ground he darted over to it and caught the weapon, spinning it as he rose and severing the head of the other damned-pawn nearby._

_The remaining damned chess pieces rattled, then turned a lighter grey and started floating in the air towards him._

_His sword flicked, the sharp blade now pointing at the ground._

_Then he ran forward and spun, cutting the first two damned-pawns that were in front of him in half before coming to a stop- right in front of the remaining two._

_Their blades became red as they prepared to strike, but he stabbed the sword into the ground and pulled the other sword from his back, stabbing Rebellion in-between the blades of one before drawing out Yamato and slicing through and past them; the things shattering after he sheathed the weapon._

_His right hand stuck out behind him and caught Rebellion before putting it back in its sheathe on his back and looking forward._

_Just as he was about to move towards the damned-bishops, however, two things flew past both his sides and impaled themselves in the demonic chess-pieces._

_He looked behind him just in time to see two people run past and grab their swords, which is what were stuck in the pieces, and tear them out, killing the things in the process._

_The duo sheathed their swords and walked towards Sparda as he watched them._

_"You're getting a bit rusty Sparda." The black-haired man commented with a kind grin._

_"You didn't even sense us until we attacked, did you?" The female with equally-black hair asked him semi-rhetorically._

_"The two of you didn't have to come. I hope you are aware of that." He spoke, not moving._

_The black-haired man, Enzeru, shrugged._

_"We weren't going to let you do this yourself, all on your lonesome. What kind of buddies would we be if we did?"_

_"Besides, you know that it is our duty to kill demons as well. Our paths simply happened to cross." Lucina added with a warm smile._

_Sparda waited for a moment before flashing a repository grin and turning around to pick up Force Edge._

_"Then let us go."_

_The other two nodded and they continued further in._


	43. The fallen, part 3

"Vergil, how nice of you to make it." Enzeru spoke casually as the half-demon walked closer to him.

"_**I've always made it a point not to be late for a funeral**_."

Enzeru laughed a bit in response.

"Straight-to-it as always huh? Well Diva is over-"

"_**I didn't come for her. I've come for the power.**_"

Enzeru lost his grin looking back at Vergil with a frown.

"How pitiful. I almost feel guilty for having dragged the two of you into this. It seems that just meeting me made things go bad for you."

"_**I don't know what you're whining about. Nor care. Draw your sword.**_"

He looked directly at "Vergil".

"Tell me this before we start hacking away at each other. What are you going to do with all that power? No matter how hard you try, you're never going to be a complete demon."

"Vergil" just continued looking at him.

"_**I don't know what it is you're trying to say. Power is power; whether you be demon, human or a mixture of both. Furthermore, I am done playing this little game with you.**_"

Enzeru stared at him before pulling out his sword from behind his back and throwing his overcoat off over the side of the cliff, transforming into his demon form while doing so.

"And _I'm _supposed to be the bad guy." He said through his helm.

A few seconds passed.

Then Enzeru lunged at Vergil, slashing out with Salvataggio as he reached him.

Vergil disappeared in a blue blur and re-appeared right behind him, slashing downwards with Yamato.

Enzeru sidestepped the strike and swung back at him, making Vergil air-trick backwards to avoid the attack, having already re-sheathed Yamato before he landed.

"He's much stronger now. The speed and strength of his attacks are greater than they were before when he was in his demon form and he doesn't dodge attacks anymore, he just teleports away from them. If I was in my human form I'd be dead already." He thought to himself before his thoughts were interrupted.

Vergil twisted Yamato in the air, preparing a Judgement Cut.

"Not happening." Enzeru spoke as he jumped towards Vergil.

But just as the attack was going to hit him he air-tricked backwards again, now in the right stance.

Enzeru just barely managed to dodge the black orb by rolling away, met by Yamato as he rose up.

He struck it away and stood up, turning back towards Vergil.

But before he could turn completely something flew past him and he felt a thousand cuts go through him.

"Nice one." He thought while his body healed.

Vergil was probably smirking, though he couldn't tell since his demon form had changed so much that his face was no longer flesh, but covered in a helm somewhat similar to his.

Enzeru's fists were enveloped in bluish white flame before the fire sailed up his hands and onto Salvataggio.

Then he swiped the weapon at Vergil and sent a crescent of fire towards him.

Vergil easily jumped over it but Enzeru kept launching them at him, making him stay stationary in the air.

Then when he ran out of the flame he jumped up to Vergil and struck down at him, knocking the half-demon back down to the ground.

Enzeru sailed down to Vergil and began striking out at him, the attack-exchange favoring Enzeru one moment and Vergil another before they hit harder than normal and both were blasted away.

He shot a fireball at Vergil, who air-tricked past it and attempted to Rapid Slash him.

Enzeru jumped above its path and slammed his sword down at where Vergil would stop.

Not having enough time to dodge the attack, Vergil struck the sword away while back-stepping and brought Yamato back in a stabbing stance.

He was surprised by this as Vergil had never had a stance like that before, so Enzeru tried to prepare himself for whatever Vergil was up to.

The half-demon slid towards him and stabbed out with Yamato, but it was slow enough for Enzeru to stop; too slow.

A second later a black orb appeared from the tip of Yamato and surrounded Enzeru.

It slashed at his armored-body and chipped the top pieces off.

But a bit of pain and the loss of some armor was far from a death blow and he broke out of it, grabbing Vergil's neck with his free hand and engulfing him in fire.

Then he threw Vergil into one of the pillar-like rocks; him appearing as a huge fireball as he crashed through it.

Enzeru sent dozens of ghost-swords flying towards the dust cloud and Vergil, not stopping for a whole minute.

After that though he saw something move out of the cloud and knew he had escaped.

However, since Vergil had just escaped he was facing away from Enzeru and was thus showing him a weak point.

Enzeru slid across the area with inhuman speed and slashed out at Vergil; the attack would definitely cut all the way through his spine.

But then Diva was pulled out in front of his attack and he stopped it.

"You…scum!" He growled at Vergil, who tossed her away and stabbed him through his stomach.

Then he kicked Enzeru's hand, making it drop his sword and grabbed the thing, twisting around in the air before cleaving through his chest.

After a few seconds Vergil dropped Salvataggio into the stream and then grabbed Yamato's hilt, withdrawing it forcibly from Enzeru's increasingly human-looking stomach.

He stumbled away and picked up Salvataggio before twisting back to look at what the once-noble warrior had become.

"If that's how you want to fight…" He said before taking his sword into both hands and stabbing it down into the ground.

Thousands of swords appeared behind him in an army and his hands once again glowed with bluish white fire.

"Then fine."

After that he threw fireball after fireball at him; with the swords flying after the attacks to give him no chance to get away.

Vergil dodged the first dozen or so attacks, but was caught in the by one of them and was subjected to thousands of swords and fireballs going into him.

In a few seconds even _Enzeru_ couldn't seeVergil with how much fire there was, but that didn't stop him.

He went on for minutes and minutes until he couldn't even stand up anymore without bracing himself against Salvataggio.

Taking huge breaths, Enzeru looked back up at the fireball that was dissipating.

When something came out of it, a strange looking blur coming towards him, he didn't have enough time to pull up his sword before he felt something slice through him; separating his from his stomach.

His upper half actually started to slide down the lower one before his demon form evaporated; too much energy expended putting him back together to maintain it.

He fell forward towards the water but kept himself from falling into it by pushing out a boot to cease his descent.

As he did so however, he noted the similarity between this situation and the one he'd watched between Vergil and Dante.

"So, this is it huh? This is where I'm supposed to fall over and die?" He asked the air, no longer aware of anyone else's presence.

The pain inside him, though technically healed, made him feel as if he were still in two pieces.

There was no way he could beat Vergil now, not in a wounded human form.

He could stand still and let it end quickly.

Then his eyes glared at the water and he forced himself up.

"Go to hell! It's not over yet!" He yelled while pulling Salvataggio out of the ground, whipping around and running towards Vergil.

The half-demon simply stood there looking down on him and he felt himself scowl as he approached.

Enzeru swung at Vergil's head…

…but it missed.

A second later he felt something pierce his stomach and he dropped his sword, the weapon sinking into the ground.

He looked up and saw Vergil's eyes staring at him through the helm.

His eyes were no longer icy blue as they originally were; replaced by yellow pupils within a red circle.

"It looks like you finally have what it takes to beat me." He stated quietly.

"But you don't know how pathetic that is… do you?"

Vergil didn't respond.

"It is said that a dark knight can only be defeated in two ways. Their powers are too great for them to be defeated in any other. The first way is to- ah- find something they care about and exploit it; a situation similar to Sparda's."

His breathing slowed.

"The second is for someone who is more corrupted by sadness and hatred than the current holder of the title, to kill them."

His grin came back, though blood came out of his mouth as he did so.

"I'd…hoped that you would find a _third _way. But… unfortunately it would seem that it was only the second one. Vergil, there was originally a different title than 'dark knight' that was given to us. It was removed after Sparda proved it didn't suit him. Do you know what it is?"

The eyes continued staring at him coldly.

"Heh. Nero Angelo."

"_**How do I gain the power of the demon-king?**_" He asked Enzeru impatiently.

His grin widened, letting more blood flow out.

Then he began laughing in a way losers don't normally laugh at the winners, stopping momentarily and smirking at Vergil, looking at him as if he were an insect.

"You can't get it anymore. You gave up that strength when you fell and decided to gain power as opposed to protecting _her_." He spoke, nodding his head towards Diva, who was standing there looking at them, shocked.

"Do you remember why you originally left her? I do, I was watching you. You were going to kill me and then return to the human world with her, living in happiness. What happened to that?"

He gave no response.

"Tell you what. I hereby relinquish my title as dark knight, to you, the greatest bastard of them all. Congratulations, Nero Angelo. You've finally beaten me."

Vergil withdrew Yamato and twisted it around, sliding it along its sheathe.

"_**Shut up.**_"

Yamato snapped in all the way and Enzeru's wound exploded in blood, sending him into the water, facing up at the ceiling.

"_**Those that lose are in no position to criticize the winners.**_"

Enzeru felt blood bubbling in his mouth as he spoke, now merely a whisper.

"Heh. _Winner_."

* * *

I'm not sure why this turned out the way it did. But somehow it feels... I don't know. Really crappy. Dissapointment aside I suppose I'll tell you that the reason I said "Nero Angelo" is because I've heard and believe that "Nelo Angelo" was a mistranslation of the original title in the japanese version. Once again I apologize for this chapter. I'm honestly not sure what happened to it.


	44. The fallen, final part

"_How do we get through it?" Enzeru asked, staring up at the huge door which wouldn't budge._

_Sparda looked at Lucina, who nodded._

_"The key might be in that room we passed on the way here." Lucina offered._

_"Enzeru, will you go retrieve it?" Sparda asked him politely._

_He was surprised by the request, but nodded._

_"Sure. I'll be right back. Don't leave without me."_

_Then Enzeru ran down the hallway and they heard the door close soon after._

_Sparda held up his key to the door, which all high-ranking demons were given when they achieved their positions._

_The locks on the doors pulled out of the walls and the two entered the chamber._

_It was a very large, cylindrical room. The walls were blue stone while the middle was a circle with lines coming out from it._

_They noticed the small indentation in the middle and walked over to it._

_Sparda gazed down and then looked at Lucina again, who smiled warmly._

_He drew out Yamato and cut through his hand above it; the white fabric of his glove stained red with the blood._

_The blood slid down his hand until it dripped down into the indentation._

_After a moment his body healed the cut and Lucina walked closer to him._

_"I…" He began, but Lucina stopped him by shaking her head lightly._

_"I already knew what helping you with this entailed. There is nothing for you to be sorry for. My duty is to spread peace across the world. If sealing this place and keeping the demons from hurting humans will help with that then it is my duty to do all that I can to seal it."_

_Sparda nodded a bit before his look hardened._

_"Are you ready?" He asked._

_She smiled again and nodded._

_He sighed and then raised Yamato._

_"Goodbye… and thank you…Lucina."_

_Then he pierced through her heart with the demon-blade, making sure to cut as cleanly as possible so it wouldn't hurt as much._

_Yamato was withdrawn and somewhat shakily sheathed._

_Lucina stood for a few seconds, but then fell forward, caught by Sparda._

_"Lucina?!" They heard yelled from the doorway._

_Enzeru ran, dropping the oricalcon as he made his way to the pair._

_Sparda helped Lucina into his arms and he lowered the two of them to the ground softly._

_After this Sparda walked away a bit to give them a moment._

_Enzeru began crying when he saw that the wound was fatal, but Lucina smiled up at him._

_"Don't be sad. This was my choice. If I can help people in any way…"_

_He swallowed._

_"Then I will. No matter what it takes." He finished for her._

_One of her hands came up to his cheek and he held it, his shaky brown eyes looking into her soft blue ones._

_"I love you." She whispered to him in her failing breath._

_He had to fight simply to keep his eyes open as he watched hers begin to close._

_"I love you too."_

_Her smile widened softly before her eyes closed all the way, and it shrunk._

_He held her to him for what felt like an eternity before he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sparda looking down on him with a sad expression._

_"I'm sorry but… we must leave."_

_He looked back down at Lucina and nodded._

_Then he lowered her to the ground and laid her hands on her stomach in a peaceful position._

_The two of them left the chamber as the once-red lines that ran along the floor started to turn blue._

_"I have to seal my power here." Sparda told him as they stopped running._

_"I know." _

_"I apologize for…"_

_There were a few more seconds of silence between them before Enzeru spoke up._

_"When you seal your power, it will go into your sword, won't it?"_

_Sparda looked directly at him, showing confusion._

_"Yes."_

_Enzeru's normal grin tried to battle through his saddened disposition but only managed to become a sad smile._

_"Then seal it and I'll put it somewhere safe."_

_"But if you do that then you will be forced to stay in the demon world."_

_He attempted a shrug._

_"If I can help people in any way…"_

_Sparda sighed._

_"Then I will. No matter what it takes." He finished._

_"You are stronger than I am. You being the one that returns to the human world only makes sense you can make it more peaceful, longer. Just promise me you'll take care of my daughter."_

_"I promise."_

_Enzeru's smile softened like Lucina's had._

_"Make sure no one bothers her about having blue and brown eyes. It's a real problem in the human world." He added as if it were a normal conversation._

_Sparda nodded a bit before pulling Force Edge from his back and closing his eyes._

_A second later it began to glow with a blue light before the light flashed and Sparda heaved, handing the sword to Enzeru._

_He nodded while taking the sword._

_"Now get going my friend. No sense in us all getting trapped her."_

_Sparda looked at him and then nodded._

_"Goodbye Enzeru."_

_Enzeru nodded and Sparda ran back the way they'd come._

_The tower began to shake and he looked at the sword with a frown of thought._

_"Now, where should I put you?"_

_Then tower lowered back into the earth; reforming in the demon world._

_It ceased and he was sealed there for the rest of eternity._

* * *

Well that's the last of the flashback. I know it may have been hard for some people to make the connection but Lucina was the priestess Sparda sacrificed and both Enzeru and her are Lady's descendants(I don't know if it's at all possible for children to get different colored eyes simply because their parents have two different eye colors but that was the case in here.)

Lastly, I'll probably redo the last chapter(meaning the one before this) if I get reviews or something that tells me that they didn't like it, but since I've never found my writing particularly impressive there's no way for me to tell if it was actually bad or if I'm just being pessimistic. So simply, if I get positive reviews on it, it will stay as it is now, if I get negative ones it will be changed.(eventually)


	45. Prolusio

He untransformed and she could see Vergil again.

The _real _Vergil.

"You beat him now. Can we go back to the human world?" She asked him at a volume that was all but drowned out by the sound of the continuously rushing water.

Still, he heard her and looked directly at Diva.

His eyes caused her to take a step back.

They held no happiness or sadness or anything else.

It was just a cold, emotionless stare.

"Please?"

"I have no reason to go back with you." He stated while walking to a specific part of the stream and pulling something, Enzeru's sword, out of it.

He shivered for a second before his eyes widened, gaining just a hint of joy in them.

Then the look disappeared and he put the weapon on his back, the thing somehow staying in place despite there not being a holster.

"It's not demon-king power, but I suppose it will do."

Then he began walking towards the opposite end of the stream, away from the edge of the cliff.

Though Diva wanted to cry now she managed to keep herself thinking straight.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him as he made it to the other side.

He put a hand on his sword's hilt.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Then he slashed at the wall and the thing cut like flesh, revealing some kind of portal.

Vergil sheathed his sword and waited a moment.

"I'm going to find Dante."

After that he walked through the portal and disappeared.

She was going to run after him when she felt something grab her ankle.

Diva looked down and saw that it was Enzeru's hand; sticking out of the water.

Deciding that he could help her, she pulled him out of the stream and over onto one of the "banks", getting him to sit up so he could breathe easier.

The man looked all-but dead; his skin now pale as a corpse's and his once smooth black hair lying matted to his body from the effects of the water. The wound in his stomach had been washed clean by the water but already the blood was starting to pool around him.

Enzeru was dying.

But his eyes, which no longer held that strange werewolf-like golden color; replaced by brown orbs, looked up at her with some kind of look of peace.

Though he seemed to strain simply to keep them open that sadness she had saw in them before was receding by the second.

"You… have to stop….Vergil." He gasped out while taking deep breaths.

Diva looked at the now-open portal, and then back at Enzeru.

"With the power he has now…. the two brothers will kill each other the next time they meet."

An image of her and Saya stabbing each other briefly flashed through Diva's mind.

"But I can't do anything to him." She said while looking down at the ground hopelessly; honestly not knowing if she didn't think she could stop him, or if she wouldn't be _willing _to do so if the time ever came.

Enzeru nodded.

"I know. He's too far gone right now. In order to get back the man you know… you'll have to defeat what he is now."

She looked at him again, not understanding what he meant.

His eyes looked directly into hers, resoluteness in his gaze which overcame his fading energy.

"Remember… your opponent is Nero Angelo. _Not _Vergil himself."

Then Enzeru's eyes lost their intensity and his breaths lightened, becoming shaky.

"Do you still have the dagger?" He asked her in a dry voice.

She brought it up so he could see its sheathed form.

He nodded a bit and then looked back at her.

"The power that lies within that blade belongs to Sparda and his heirs. As Vergil is now, there is no way he could handle it." His voice faded to a whisper.

"You _have _to give it to Dante. He's the only hope of overcoming the demon that Vergil has become… and saving them both from their fates."

Enzeru's eyes started to narrow.

"You know… you kind of remind me of-"

His lips stopped moving, and his eyes stopped seeing.

Diva closed his eyes and then let him lie down on the bank.

She took a deep breath, and then walked towards the portal.

* * *

I know it took a very long time for me to update compared to the others but my motivation went to the wind for some reason. I will continue this story. That's not going to change. But as to how long it will _take _for it to be continued, I'm not sure. This is a lot like a precursor to the next part of the story and I know it could have been better but this is the best I can do for now.


	46. Uncrazy party

"I'm telling ya, I didn't use the last roll of toilet paper." Dante said in his defense to the angry girl dubbed "Lady" who was glaring down at him.

The two of them had decided to work together, if only for a little while but he'd suspected that it was mainly because she didn't have a place to stay.

"The two of us are the only ones who _use _that ceramic piece of trash you call a toilet!" She yelled at him, grabbing his desk and bringing herself across it.

Dante wasn't intimidated and merely batted an eye towards her and gave his trademark cocky grin.

"What? You used to toilets that _aren't _made of ceramic?" He quipped.

She only scowled in response.

"That's a really crappy way to try and change the subject you know?"

"Crappy?" He asked her absent-mindedly, not interested enough to try and make it into a joke.

"Okay, fine." She said, becoming calm as she backed away from his desk.

"So tell me, who else, other than you, has the strength and stupidity to imbed neatly-cut segments of a carboard tube into a wall which spells 'Dante rulez'?"

Dante shrugged in response, eyeing the pizza-box which had been delivered not five minutes ago.

Lady noticed his interest and walked coyly over in front of the pizza box.

"Oh. You want this?" She asked, picking up the steaming box as she walked over towards the doors of the shop and put a hand against one of them, parting them.

Dante's interest returned and he leaned forward across the desk.

"Come on. Don't joke about something like that. This is serious!" He gestured dramatically towards the box, which was more important to him than anything else in the room right now.

Well, other than his amulet.

Her eyebrows raised and the door was pushed open further.

He slammed a fist down on the desk then scowled for a moment before leaning back in his chair.

"Fine. I did it." Dante spoke without making eye contact with her.

Lady seemed satisfied enough and let the door close as she walked over to the desk and dropped the pizza box down onto it.

He immediately moved his head above the thing which was about the closest there was to a holy object to him, taking in the wonderful greasy smell before opening the box and looking at all the pieces eagerly.

"Now, who's first? Ah!" Then he carefully pulled one of the pieces of pizza out of the box and chomped down on it, chewing the thing several times before swallowing it with a loud sound.

"Best in the city!" He exclaimed in a thunderous tone which made Lady cover her ears for a moment.

She pulled her own piece out of the box and took a bite out of it, then sat on the desk, looking out towards the doors.

"How long will it be before you start getting some good customers Dante? There're plenty of calls for killing a demon or two but we won't be able to survive on the petty little payments you get from those forever." Lady commented before taking another bite out of her slice.

Dante swallowed another bite of his own before answering.

"Hey, it's not my fault. You can't expect for a portal to the demon world to open every day. And- wait, did you say 'we'?"

Before she could answer the doors to the shop were opened and someone walked inside.

She had long black hair, a dirtied and bloodied white dress and strange holes in it that looked like the most bizarre style he'd ever seen.

"Finally a customer! What'd I say, Lady? You wait for stuff and they come to ya!" Dante said excitedly as he put his slice of pizza down in the box.

"You never said that." Lady retorted, though it was in a quiet tone since she seemed to be examining the girl for some reason.

"So, what can I help you with?" He asked the girl, whose attention seemed to seamlessly alter from one thing to the other.

When she heard his question though her gaze fixed on him.

"Are you Dante?" She asked him as if he hadn't said anything.

He bit his lip a bit.

"Damn, not this again. The last time someone said my name like that I got chopped into by a bunch of rusty-ass scythes and some freak-show stamped on my pizza." He thought.

Then Dante mentally shrugged and he grinned again.

"Yeah. I know you?"

She looked down at the floor before pulling an elaborate-looking dagger which was still sheathed out from behind her back.

Lady's free hand went behind her back and pulled a gun out, aiming at the girl's chest before firing a round.

Dante's eyes actually widened a bit as he looked at the falling girl before looking back at Lady.

"What the hell'd you'd _do _Lady?! She was a human!"

"That blood isn't hers." She stated calmly.

He looked back at the girl again and noticed that she didn't seem to have any wounds besides the gunshot one Lady had just given her.

"So what's she a serial killer or something?" He asked her, noticing that her gaze widened in shock before he looked back at the no-longer-dead girl who was plucking at the bloody hole in her shirt.

"Why is everyone always wrecking my dress?" She asked the air, upset.

Then the girl looked directly at Dante again, taking a step towards him.

Lady fired her gun at the girl again, but she disappeared in a kind of blue after-image.

She re-appeared next to Dante, behind the range of Lady's gun.

"I'm here for you." She said blankly.

He blinked a few times; not intimidated but definitely confused.

Lady tried to aim her gun at the girl again but once again she disappeared; reappearing right in front of the demon-huntress, holding the gun-arm out.

Then, despite her struggles, the girl began dancing with Lady in a ballroom-like fashion across the whole office.

"Let go of me damn it!" Lady yelled at her in vain as the girl continued dancing for a bit before actually seeming to realize what she was doing, her gaze fixed on Dante and her head tilted a bit.

"Just give me a second. I need something to drink first." Then, to both Dante's and Lady's surprise the girl bit into Lady's neck and began sucking her blood like the girl was some kind of vampire.

Dante ran towards them and reached a hand out, about to pull the girl away.

But before he could reach her the girl disappeared again, leaving him to catch Lady who was a bit drowsy from all the blood she'd lost.

"Are you okay?" He asked her quietly.

She nodded and he helped her over to the desk so she could lean against it.

The two looked at each other seriously before he felt something soft and paper-like hit the back of his head.

He turned towards where the offending object had come from and looked up, seeing the girl tearing through the cardboard boxes on the second floor of his office.

More magazines were tossed down, or more accurately, out of her way as she continued her search.

"Do you have anything in here besides these magazines?" She asked him, holding one up by its back cover, a spread-out falling down and showing a girl with a severe lack of clothes on its pages.

Dante rubbed the back of his head, looking hesitantly back at Lady who, despite her drowsy state, still seemed to have enough energy to be disgusted.

"Uh… those aren't mine. I found 'em here when I bought the place."

The girl looked more closely at the cover.

"It says Dante."

He waved his hands in the air while trying to think of something to say.

"Uh... no. There was someone else here before me-"

She dropped the magazine and went through a bunch of others.

"Dante. Dante… Dante… red lover-" She giggled childishly when she read the latter.

"Hey who they hell are you _anyway_?" He growled angrily up at her.

The girl wasn't a demon and he tried his best to only kill _them _but she was really starting to get on his nerves.

Looking at him, the girl dropped the last magazine before hopping off the second floor, landing on the floor quietly.

"I need your help." She said to him, so much more serious than before he'd almost think she was mature.

One of his eyebrows arched.

"Well you picked a hell of a way to do that." He said, frowning a bit now.

"If you help me, this will make you stronger." The girl spoke while reaching for something in her dress.

He didn't even bat an eye.

"Wrong twin. What do you want?" Dante asked her impatiently.

Her expression became terribly depressed as she looked back up at him.

"Vergil-" The rest of her sentence was cut off as her eyes widened and then closed, the girl falling forward as she did so.

His body instinctively moved to catch her for some reason but she was already unconscious.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked the air.

"But she mentioned Vergil. Has she… _met _him since he jumped off that cliff?" He thought quickly before sighing.

"Lady, could you take her in back and get her on a bed?" Dante asked her without looking back; he could almost _feel _her surprise and anger though.

"What- Like _hell _I will! That freaky little vampire-thing almost _killed _me!"

Dante looked back at her, his gaze much more mature and stern than he usually ever was.

She stopped and scowled before sighing herself.

"It's because she mentioned Vergil… isn't it?" Lady spoke up again, but with a quiet tone.

He didn't respond, his right hand simply tightening.

"Okay. I'll do it."

Then she walked over to Dante and took the girl from his arms, pulling an arm around the back of her neck and pulling the girl towards the single door that led into the back of the building; where they lived.

Dante stood up again and noticed the doors open, but didn't bother to look over at who had entered.

"Sorry. We're closed." He spoke, still not taking his eyes from the view of the hand Vergil had cut before jumping off the cliff.

"I'm sorry to intrude," he heard a young but mature girl's voice speak to him.

She almost sounded like the girl who'd just arrived, but he figured the situation was just getting to him.

", this won't take long. I just wanted to ask if you'd seen someone."

His eyebrows furrowed as Dante looked over at the girl, noticing another person with her, a tall man with a noticeably old-fashioned outfit on and a huge guitar or cello case hung over his back.

He was surprised to see that the girl _did _seem just like the one who'd fallen unconscious a minute ago, though her skin wasn't as pale, she had brown eyes as opposed to blue ones and her hair was cut short.

"I wanted to know if you'd seen a girl that looks like me."

* * *

Not sure when I'll update next. Leave a review if you feel like it.


	47. Pizza party

"Why? She your sister or something?" He asked casually.

The girl's eyes twitched ever so slightly at his response.

"Yes. Have you seen her?"

He looked up at the ceiling in mock-concentration for a few seconds before giving a short laugh and looking back at the girl.

"Well... suppose I did? You come to help her out?"

Her gaze, which he noticed had a much younger more kind-hearted version of Vergil's "you will die" stare, kept looking at him.

"Not exactly."

Dante frowned, somewhat puzzled but playing it up as if he were absolutely dumbfounded.

"She's your sister and you didn't come to help her out? That's _cold _lady."

The girl seemed to be getting agitated.

"My name is Saya, and I have my reasons for not trying to 'help' her. If you had a twin, you would understand."

His frown disappeared and he gave a somewhat immature laugh before stopping and looking at her again, the frown replaced by his usual cocky grin.

"You know, you remind me of someone else. Anyway, _Saya_, I _do _have a twin."

"Then you know why I have to do what I have to do."

His grin widened.

"No. That means I know what kind of look you've got on and I _don't _understand why you would want to _kill _your twin."

A scowl started to play at the girl's lips but she suppressed it.

Then, with the worst timing imaginable, Lady came out of the back of the building holding a white hand-towel to her neck.

"Dante, I don't know what that girl is, but _you're _playing water-cooler the next time she gets thirsty." Lady noticed the other two in the room and the atmosphere that was already going on; her hand lowering out of instinct towards where her gun had been.

Unfortunately, it also brought the towel away from her neck and showed the two punctures in it.

"Haji!" The girl said, apparently calling on the man who was behind her.

In an instant he appeared in front of Dante and the man's, Haji's, arms came out to grab him.

Dante brought up his own arms and the two's hands grappled together.

Despite his half-demon strength he didn't seem to have an edge in this fight at all.

"Shit that means he's not human either." Dante thought to himself while trying to push Haji off-balance.

He realized too late that their little 'wrestling' match was nothing but a distraction for the girl to get past him.

Dante tried to get out of the grapple and go after him but Haji wasn't letting him move.

"Ergh. Damn it! Lady, go after her!"

He heard the demon-huntress' response as she ran through the doorway.

"Why are you two trying to kill that girl, Saya's, sister?"

Haji, who hadn't spoken a word until now, finally did.

"It is Saya's wish for Diva to die. Her wish is my wish as well."

Dante shook his head a bit before realizing that 'Diva' was the other girl's name.

"But I need her in case she knows something important about Vergil. If she met him after he stayed in the demon world and got back that means _he _can come back too." He thought to himself, not really caring if Vergil would want to come back or not.

"If he doesn't want to I'll just knock him out and _drag _him back." Dante thought again before realizing he had to move.

"Stay down." He spoke to Haji.

Though he didn't show an emotion on his face Dante was willing to bet the quiet man was confused at what he just said.

Didn't matter though.

Dante devil-triggered and the energy sent out from his transformation was enough to break the grapple.

A second later Dante punched Haji square in the face, blasting him through the doors of the shop and not taking the time to see how far he went before turning around and heading for the doorway to the back to building.

Some shots rang out before he made it through the narrow hall, past the "kitchen" and into Lady's bedroom.

Lady was standing in front of the vampire-chick, Diva, trying to keep Saya from getting to the sleeping girl.

She noticed him enter the room and her gun lowered a bit.

Saya noticed him as well and actually showed a brief look of surprise before it disappeared into her determined gaze.

"That's enough. Your buddy's out sleeping with the bums on the street; there's no way you can beat all of us." His demonic voice spoke out.

"I'm not here to kill anyone but Diva."

"Agh! Damn it, what is _with _you?! I _must _do this! I…_must _do that! Enough already! She's your _sister_!"

"My sister Diva is evil!"

A demonic sigh sounded out before he grabbed the back of her collar and dragged her out of the room, Saya seeming to have instantly lost her 'edge'.

Once they were back in the shop he tossed her into a chair and un-devil-triggered.

"Just have some pizza or something! You'll feel better after that." Dante spoke out as he tossed the pizza box across the room to land perfectly on her lap.

"_Pizza _is not going to make me feel better!" She yelled at him.

Dante stuck his face down at her and snarled himself.

"Yes. It. Will!"

He noticed Haji in the room again, no injuries apparent on him.

Dante snatched up a piece of pizza and walked over to Haji and thrust the slice into his hands.

"_Both _of you need some _pizza_! With how cryptic you both are it's like you chew on bamboo and then smallow it whole or something. I swear, it's like I'm living with _Vergil_!"

He fell silent when he realized he'd spoken Vergil's name out loud.

"Who's Vergil?" Saya asked, seeming to have momentarily forgotten her obsession with killing her twin.

Dante looked up a bit, not peering directly into her eyes as he spoke.

"He's…my brother."

"Where is he?"

Both were speaking much more quietly now.

"There's a place called the demon world. We were on some kind of cliff that borders ours and that world. The two of us were fighting and then he fell off the cliff."

No one said anything for a few moments before he looked at Saya and spoke again.

"I don't know what's going on with you and your sister but before she fell asleep she mentioned Vergil. Until I find out what's going on with him I can't let you hurt her. After that, you two can take care of it between yourselves."

She looked down and a few more seconds of silence passed.

Then she pulled a slice of pizza out of the box and bit into it.

* * *

A bit short and Dante was a bit out of character, but it's okay. Oh yeah, and sorry for Dante's chapter titles. Didn't quite know what to do with them.


	48. Prolonged, story told and destination

Someone talking loudly woke her up from her deep sleep.

Diva rubbed her eyes as they opened and she looked around the room.

There was a light on in the hallway and since the door was open some of it came into the room, but it was still dark enough that it didn't hurt her eyes.

At first she didn't know where she was, remembering only falling asleep while she was in that shop with Dante and that girl.

But after listening for a few more moments she recognized his voice and guessed she must just be somewhere else in the building.

He hadn't given her an answer before but even if Dante _wouldn't _help her she would stay near him.

After all, if Vergil was really coming after Dante, she would eventually get to see him again.

"I wonder what he's doing." She said to the room.

Without him, nothing was any fun. She didn't know why, but it just wasn't.

Her other chevaliers had always done what they could to keep her busy but he was different.

Vergil hadn't even wanted her around him for a while, but she'd still enjoyed being around him more than she had all her other chevaliers combined.

"I guess I should have _expected _him to leave. Everyone else always has-"

She heard footsteps coming towards the room she was in and took a second to decide whether she should pretend to still be sleeping or stay as she was.

After a moment she decided to play it safe and darted back down, closing her eyes in the process.

She felt the light in the room lessen; the effect of someone's shadow being projected into it.

She didn't notice the shadow moving and realized they must just be standing still.

Then Diva heard a voice she hadn't expected to ever hear again, or at the very least not for a long time.

She heard a deeper version of her own tone speak across the small room to her.

"You're awake." Her older twin and big sister Saya spoke to her; stating it as opposed to asking her if she was.

Her eyes opened and she rolled around to face her elder sister.

To be honest, she half-expected Saya to pull out a sword, lunge across the room and chop her in half.

"We need to talk. Follow me." Saya spoke before turning away from her.

She'd spoken like Vergil, which was probably the only reason Diva sat up and pushed herself off the bed.

The two left the room, walking across a dark-wooded, narrow hallway with a red carpet.

They passed another bedroom, something that resembled a kitchen and what must have been a bathroom before the hallway ended and she entered that shop again, though this time she'd entered through the back as opposed to the front, which she noticed now had the doors leaning against the frame as opposed to lying fixed within it.

Dante, that girl from before and Haji were located in different places in the room.

Dante was sitting at his desk, legs propped up on it as he leaned back in the heavy wooden chair.

The girl was sitting on the desk itself, having been looking out across the room before she looked at Diva; for some reason she seemed angry.

Haji was, as always, standing silently and out of the way in the room.

Saya stopped walking, but didn't turn around to face her.

"I came here to kill you." She stated bluntly.

Diva tilted her head, somewhat interested.

"But… because he-" she spoke, nodding slightly towards Dante.

"-needs to find someone, our battle must be postponed for a while."

She looked at Dante, immediately excited, though not in a giddy way.

Diva unknowingly after-imaged over to the desk; slamming into it to stop her from moving. Her head hovered over the desk looking at Dante eagerly.

"Really?! You're going to help me find him?!"

Not noticing that everyone in the room except for Dante had been put on guard from her overt actions, Diva gazed down on the confident-looking silver-haired man.

"After…" Then he let the chair fall back down to the wooden floor, the legs colliding loudly with it.

"…you tell me what's going on." Dante's face was now right in front of Diva's.

She tilted her head again before backing away, standing straight up.

"Vergil's in trouble."

His eyebrows moved up a bit as he closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair again, not showing any signs of surprise or worry.

"I thought he was your brother." Saya commented on his behavior in a somewhat upset tone from her new position near Haji.

Dante simply waved dismissively at her.

"Trust me, doll, if I got worried every time Vergil was in trouble I'd weigh five-hundred pounds and have the Guinness-world-record for stress-induced heart attacks."

There were a few moments of silence before she spoke up again.

"Did you just call me 'doll'?"

He shrugged and looked at Diva again.

"Anyway," she re-began.

"A man named Enzeru killed the boss of whatever world I just came from and got all his power. Vergil kind of went crazy after that and he left me."

Diva forgot she was talking as she remembered how sad she'd felt when she woke up and he was gone.

Then she blinked and remembered.

"Eventually the three of us all turned up on a cliff that was next to this world and that other one. By that time Vergil had turned into some strange-looking thing and the two of them fought. After a while, Vergil won. But Enzeru had put all of his power into this." She held up the dagger a bit.

"And after Vergil left he told me that whoever pulled the dagger out of its sheathe next would get the power he'd put into it."

"What happened to this Enzeru guy?" Dante asked a bit absent-mindedly.

"He's dead." She spoke, actually somewhat sad.

"So you'll pull out the dagger, get the power, and go rescue Vergil." The lady spoke up, on topic.

"No." Dante responded in an unusually calm and resolute tone.

She heard a light gasp come from either the lady or Saya, but she wasn't sure who it was.

"What do you mean 'no'? I thought you wanted to help him."

"And I will. But I don't need some demon power to do that."

Dante stood up from his chair and stared out across the room, seeming to see something that only _he_ could.

"I'll go to the demon world and bring Vergil back!" He declared loudly, his previously serious mood broken by the return of his cocky grin and his hand that had come up whose thumb was pointing back at him.

"Actually…" Diva spoke up quietly, remembering she'd left out a detail.

One of his eyebrows rose as he looked at her; his hand falling back down to his side and his cocky grin turning into an interested and curios frown.

"What?"

"He didn't go somewhere in the demon world."

"Well where'd he go then?"

Her response was cut off as the already-broken doors were blasted inwards and flew across the room before impaling themselves in a wall.

A second later a glowing humanoid figure stepped into the doorway.

She couldn't see who it was, but she felt him and for the first time in her life mentally kicked herself for not having noticed it earlier.

"_**Ah, here you are.**_"

* * *

Sorry that it's taken a while for me to update, but it seems that the "edge" for writing this story hasn't returned to me yet. I'm not sure when I'll update next either(to be honest, the only reason I've updated even_ this _soon is because of the reviews and the request that I continue still, regardless of how long it takes me, I promise that I _will _finish this story.


	49. Party crasher

Lady's eyes were wide, staring at Vergil's changed form.

Saya and Haji were gazing at him, though Saya actually seemed at least minutely worried.

Diva was just looking in his direction, a look he couldn't quite place on her face.

Dante though simply stared on at his brother who was now more demon than human with a somewhat disappointed expression which didn't even hint at just how bad he felt.

Vergil had finally lost.

Ever since they were children Vergil had always been the one who tried to beat Dante no matter what, and when he gained his obsession with power after their mother's death his competitiveness had only greatened, he just got quieter.

And every time they'd met again after the had initially separated Dante had always felt something different about Vergil. A feeling he couldn't place but at the same time recognized.

With each reunion he'd felt the feeling with greater and greater intensity, but it wasn't until now that Dante had finally realized exactly what the feeling _meant_.

Vergil was becoming a demon.

The fact that he'd shown up already in demon form proved just how much he'd lost his original self.

His appearance was completely different than what it had been when they last fought on that cliff.

There was virtually no blue left in it, the leathery-like look his body had was replaced by metallic "armor" that covered his whole body except for his head, which looked like it had a slightly purple tint and also seemed dry.

A purple cape covered his back and had some kind of insignia on it.

All in all, if it hadn't been for his lack of a helmet, Dante would've assumed that he was completely demon now.

"I'm sorry, Vergil. If _I'd _been the one who lost and fell off the cliff and into the demon world you wouldn't have turned out like this." He thought to himself.

"You showed up." Dante stated with an attempt at his usual cocky grin.

Vergil smirked back at him and he knew that this wasn't good.

He would do fine. But the others, even the vampire-people, probably wouldn't stand a chance against Vergil as he was now.

"Go into the back." Dante spoke to everyone else.

"No way Dante! You're going to need our help if you want to beat him!" Lady with what he noticed was a worried tone.

She wasn't a demon but she'd fought them long enough to be able to tell how strong they were.

"There isn't any time to argue-" He cut his response short when Diva started to walk towards Vergil, still looking at him with that strange expression.

"You idiot! What the hell are you doing?!" Dante yelled at the evidently oblivious girl while heading towards her.

Just as he laid his hand on her shoulder though something too quick for him to see came up and hit him in the cheek, knocking him back into his chair and then into the wall.

It hadn't really hurt him but his body was confused enough that he couldn't really move too well.

So instead of flipping back over his desk he put an elbow on it and pulled himself up, seeing that it had been _Diva _who knocked him away.

"You bitch!" Lady yelled while pulling out one of her handguns.

Diva kicked Dante's desk and sent it and Lady across the room.

He couldn't see what happened to her because he'd lost his support and fell back down to the ground.

"I told you, you couldn't trust her." Saya spoke solemnly while walking towards Diva, starting to unsheathe her sword while doing so.

But nothing seemed to exist to the long-haired girl but Vergil, who she looked at as if he were a relative she'd thought dead.

Suddenly a bluish white sword appeared in the air and flew towards Saya, who was picked up and taken away to safety by Haji.

But before she could thank him, more swords, now numbering in the dozens, flew at them again.

Haji kept dodging them until they circled him and forced him to jump up; putting him right in front of a sword which pierced through him and took him outside the building in its trip through the air.

"Haji!" Saya said in a worried tone while starting towards him.

She stopped in mid-stride before looking back at Dante, who nodded.

Saya nodded as well and then continued to leave the shop in her search for the wounded man.

"I've been looking for you." Diva spoke to him in a strangely mature tone.

"I know." He spoke back to her.

She reached him and hugged his demonically-armored form, seeming completely oblivious to the purple energy that crackled around him.

"Wait a minute. Did he come here for _her_?" Dante thought as his body finally started to cooperate and he shivered to get rid of any remaining numb spots.

But he looked up when he heard a strange sound.

"No." Dante exclaimed while looking on at the two.

Diva was still hugging to Vergil, but there was now a sword sticking out of her back.

She looked up at him, showing the only signs of hurt Dante had ever seen her give since they'd met.

Then Vergil smirked and threw her across the room and into the side of the doorway that led to the back of the shop.

There was a loud crunching sound as she hit it and bounced off it, into the hall that led to the back of the building.

Moments later the ceiling near the archway crumbled and fell in, blocking the passage off.

"Hmph. Such a pathetic girl." Vergil remarked with his usual coldness but also with an unwelcome new tone of sadistic humor.

Dante felt his fist tighten at his newfound hatred for that disgusting trait which now lay in his older twin.

"You bastard!" He yelled at the demon-thing that used to be his cold-hearted but noble brother.

"Don't get so worked up about that Dante. It takes more than that to kill her, trust me, I've tried before."

"She just wanted to _see_ you again and you stick a sword through her chest?!"

Dante didn't even wait for a reply; he walked over to his weapon cabinet and pulled Force Edge away from its leaning position.

"What do you plan to do now, Dante?" He asked in a somewhat humorous tone.

Dante felt his grin come back and pointed to himself with his thumb.

"I'm gonna kick your _ass _is what I'm going to do!"

A mocking laugh was all that Vergil gave in response before he unsheathed a sword from behind his back that Dante had never seen before.

"You don't really think that you're going win a _second _time, do you? Don't push your luck."

"Luck huh? I thought it was just that I ruled and you sucked."

"If you recall, our recent score is tied now. I beat you on the top of Temen-ni-gru, we had a draw in the unsealing chamber and you beat me on that cliff."

"Sudden death huh?"

Vergil's smirk widened.

"You got that right."

"Sorry, your little prize fight is going to have to wait." They heard come from a side of the room.

Both looked over at the voice and saw Lady pointing a strange-looking weapon at Vergil.

"And what does _that _do?" Vergil mocked her.

"Light up and make zap-gun noise?"

Lady gave a bit of a smirk of her own before firing it at Vergil, making him disappear in a strange flash.

Afterwards the "gun" disintegrated and she walked with a slight limp over to Dante.

"What the hell'd ya do Lady?" Dante asked her, truly befuddled.

"It's a little "wild card" I picked up just in case I met a demon one day that I couldn't handle. It teleports whoever it shoots to some random location in the world."

"So he could be in China or something?" He asked, rubbing his head in confusion.

She shrugged in response, looking around at the damage done to the shop.

"Or it could have sent him into the _bathroom_. There's really no way tell just _where _he showed up."

"Well that's _boring_." Dante spoke bluntly while putting Force Edge down in its resting place again.

"It just saved your _life_!"

He waved her away.

"I woulda kicked his ass, no problem."

"He looked like a damn uber-dracula! You would've been down for the count in like a minute."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." He spoke sarcastically.

An awkward silence followed.

"He's much stronger now isn't he?" She asked him seriously.

"Yeah; stronger than he was while he had Force Edge on that cliff. I don't think he even would have had gotten that much power if he'd taken my half of the amulet."

He looked down at his most treasured possession.

"But…"

She looked at him again, somewhat surprised.

"He's also lost himself. Now he's nothing more than a…"

It was hard for him to say such a thing.

"Vergil's become a demon. There's no doubt about it. Like I am now, I _would _have lost eventually."

Then he looked back up at Lady, his grin back on his face and warmer than usual.

"But that's too grim. Let's have some pizza shall we?"

"You are absolutely unbelievable." He heard someone say from the ruins that used to be the front of his shop.

"You almost died and you want to eat _pizza_? Besides, it's..."

Both Saya and Haji didn't look hurt, though there was a small hole in his shirt that showed where the sword had been.

Saya was looking at something and Dante saw the torn remains of what used to be the pizza box.

"Rest in peace, my friend."

"Stop fooling around. Anyway, pizza wouldn't be of any help right now."

"I already told you didn't I? Pizza solves _everything_. Give me _one _person who's still tense after munching into that wonderful sauce-covered cheesy piece of wonderful bliss. You can't think of anyone, can ya? I didn't think so."

"You said wonderful twice in one sentence." Lady stated.

"Well, it's a wonderfully wonderful thing. It's so wonderful to say it too. Peeeet…zaaaaa."

"Shut up." She said again while trying to pretend she hadn't heard what he said.

"Wait, where's Diva?" Saya asked, looking around as if expecting her to come out of the shadows and attack them.

"Ah, shit." Dante spoke while remembering.

He ran over to the blocked-off hallway and tried to look past the debris to see if she was okay.

"It looks like we'll have to pull the pieces of debris out before we can get through."

Dante stared at her like she was an idiot before looking back at the obstacle.

Then he tapped his nose with his thumb and hopped from one foot to another.

"Is he always like this?" Dante heard Saya asked to Lady.

"No. Sometimes he's worse."

He scoffed a bit at them.

"You just don't know style when you see it. Heeeya!"

Then one of his fists snapped forward and hit a single piece of rubble.

Nothing happened.

"Yeah. You _really _know better than I do." She commented snidely.

His grin widened a bit as he looked back at her and tapped against the debris, the whole thing blasting outwards.

Her satisfied expression, replaced be an irritated scowl.

"Oh yeah. I rule." He boasted.

"Just shut up already."

He played a scowl while looking at where Diva was laying.

"Huh. Would've figured she'd be up already. Guess she can't take as much as she can dish out."

"He's gone again." She commented sadly.

"What the-" He spoke before moving over to look down on her.

She was completely healed, physically anyway.

"Damn." He commented while standing up.

"What is it?" Lady asked as Dante bit his lip.

"I'm going to need a hell of a lot of pizza for this one. I maybe even have to get _wings_."

* * *

Not sure how long it will be until I update again. Like always, it'll depend on when and how motivated I am. Thanks to everyone who's still reading.


	50. Unhealed wound

"Are you sure there's no way to know where you sent him?" Dante asked Lady again for the millionth time while looking around in make-believe nervousness.

He was really just being funny as opposed to worrying about the very real threat.

"Yes. For the millionth time, I don't know where it sent him. Stop asking."

They were all in the office, Dante in his usual position in his chair, pulled over to the new location of the desk because he was too lazy to actually pick it up and bring it back, which he could have done easily anyway.

Lady was sitting on the desk, as was usual for _her_, while Saya and Haji sat on a couch.

Diva, who was still acting all gloomy, had simply sat down, curled up, in a darker corner of the shop.

"Well, why don't we follow bat-woman here to him then?" He asked, referring to Diva, still not taking anything seriously.

She didn't give a response.

"No. There's no way to tell where he is now." Saya added while trying to remember Diva was not only a matter of feet away from her.

Dante sighed and leaned back in his chair more.

"Great. Now I have to wonder if he's going to pop out of my Chinese food boxes. Thanks Lady… thanks."

She scoffed in response.

"Remind me not to save you next time. Anyway, I only had one of those things so the next time you find him you two can hack at each other to your heart's content."

"All right!" He exclaimed while flipping out of his chair, landing on the desk and staring off dramatically at nothing.

"We'll find Vergil, kick his ass, drag him home and eat **_pizza_**!"

There were a few moments of silence.

"But you don't know where he is." Saya commented quietly but solemnly.

Dante's position fell into a slouch.

"Anyway, there's no pizza _left_."

Dante looked over to her with an exhausted expression on his face.

"You're like a big zero, you know that doll?"

She instantly scowled.

"Stop _calling _me that!"

His grin returned a bit, knowing he'd pissed someone off, and Dante let himself fall back into his weathered chair.

"That thing's going to break one of these days." Lady commented, not even bothering to look at him.

He waved her off.

"No way. This is nice and sturdy." Dante spoke while slapping an arm of the chair with his hand.

"See? Didn't I tell ya-"

SNAP

Dante tossed the severed arm of the chair across the room and out of his way while giving a suppressed kind of pout.

"Dante, you should start acting serious. If you keep loafing around like this you'll never find him." Saya commented.

He groaned in response.

"Great. _Two _Ladies."

"You said it yourself. He's gotten much stronger. You may not be _able _to capture him. In the end, the only thing you may be able to do is-"

"Shut up."

Saya gasped and then fell silent; knowing it hadn't been Dante who'd said that, but Diva.

"Not everyone tries to kill their sibling just because they can't _find_ them." She spat.

Saya's scowl returned, but she tried to ignore Diva.

"Dante, it's never easy to do what has to be done-"

"'has to be done'." Diva remarked, mocking Saya's words.

"Be quiet! It's hard enough not killing you, but when you start acting like you're just some innocent little girl that's where I draw the line!"

Diva stood up, actually glaring at Saya.

"If finding him means Dante doing to _him _what _you _did to _me_, then I'll find him myself." She declared while moving towards the door.

Saya grabbed her wrist and suddenly they both stopped.

"I'm not going to let you go." Saya spoke solemnly.

"Let go." She spoke, seeming more bored than agitated.

"No." Saya declared.

Diva's head moved down as if out of disappointment.

Then her free hand came up and smacked into Saya's head, sending her flying across the room and into the couch as she dropped her sword.

Before Saya could even sit up, Diva was at her sword.

"You know, now that I think about it," Diva spoke, momentarily becoming a bit childish again as she picked it up.

"_I've _never been the one with the sword while you were weaponless. Have I?"

Then she snapped the sword towards Saya, holding onto the hilt so the sword itself wouldn't go towards her.

The result was the sheath flying at Saya like an arrow, which would have broken whatever bone in her it'd hit had Haji not blocked the attack with his cello case, which despite having blocked everything from chiropteran strikes to gunshots, never broke.

So the sheath hit it with a strange sound before falling to the floor with a clatter.

Diva simply shrugged and continued towards the "doors" of the shop, or more accurately, the empty space that they used to be in.

But Saya wasn't going to give up that easily and ran towards Diva.

"Dante, shouldn't we stop them?" Lady asked him, noting how he was simply sitting in his chair watching them as opposed to actually doing something.

"No. Let them keep going."

"But they could kill each other."

He waited a few more seconds before responding again, watching the real fight start to begin.

"Believe me, for twins who can survive things that would kill humans, fighting like this is the best way to get everything out."

Then they both watched on as Saya reached Diva, who turned and swiped at her sibling.

Saya stopped just out of range of the sword, then lunged forward and grabbed Diva's sword-hand with her own, trying to wrench it free from her younger sister's grasp.

But no matter how hard she tried, Saya couldn't even move Diva's _fingers_.

"Don't you remember, Saya? Or has fighting stupid gorilla-like-thinking things made you forget that I'm the same as you. And when one of us drinks blood while the other doesn't…" She spoke before slapping Saya in the face, enough force behind the strike to send her flying away once again.

"The blood-drinker wins." She finished.

Saya had a slight bit of blood coming from her mouth now but pushed herself up again.

"Strange, I don't remember that being how our last fight ended. Haji."

He was at her side immediately.

"Swords."

Dante could see Diva's eyes widen a bit when she heard that.

Apparently Saya didn't use to have more than one.

His cello case opened and Haji opened panels in the "doors" which had opened while Saya reached into them, pulling out a pair of double-edged short-swords with red jewels in them.

Saya approached Diva and spun the swords in her hands.

When the blades cut into her shoulders a slight bit as they made their arcs back into her hands he'd thought it might have been an accident but she seemed to have desired for it to happen and a series of indentations which could now be seen throughout both blades were filled to the brim with her blood.

Diva did the same with her sword, but instead cut her hand and let the blood get spread throughout the indentations that way.

"I should have done this from the start." Saya spoke seriously.

Dante hadn't noticed until now that both of their eyes had turned into a radiating color as opposed to the muted tones from before.

Saya's eyes were shining red while Diva's was glistening blue.

The blood on Diva's sword started to bead at its tip until it dropped to the floor.

Diva gave a quick grin before they lunged at each other and yelled.

* * *

Sorry that it's been so long since I updated compared to the other ones but I try to only work on it at the "right" time, and I have another story that I'm working on now as well. I don't know when I'll update next but I'll certainly put an effort into making it as soon as possible.


	51. Bad luck

Diva slashed downward and Saya blocked it by locking her two swords together.

One of the swords fell away and swiped at Diva's stomach, which she back-stepped.

Saya followed right after her, not giving her a chance to bring her guard back up.

But Diva didn't stop and guard, instead she continued running until she was sure that Saya was merely running after her, and whipped around, hacking at her sister more than slashing at her.

Saya hadn't been expecting this and one of her short-swords, which only had a single hand to hold it in place, flew into a wall and impaled itself there.

Though she only took a moment to notice where the sword had disappeared to, it was long enough for Saya to almost be decapitated by Diva's return strike.

"How is _this _Saya? What's it like when you don't have anyone to protect you?!" Diva half-asked, half-declared as angrily as she could.

She stabbed at her sister but Saya ducked under it and thrust up towards her lungs.

Diva barely managed to dodge the strike, the arm of her dress was torn but not the skin underneath it.

But she got closer to Saya while dodging and rammed into her; Diva's small frame counteracted by the immense amount of strength her chiropteran abilities gave her.

In addition to getting the wind knocked out of her, Saya was blasted off her feet and skidded along the floor until she managed to stop her painful travel.

Diva smirked just slightly knowing how much that must have hurt.

"What's it like to have to do everything all alone?" She asked in a summary of what she'd said before.

Saya's brush-burns and scrapes were already healing but she seemed out of breath from the effort it was taking for her body to do so.

"Isn't any fun…is it?" She asked, losing the smirk.

Saya's expression hardened and she dove for the sword impaled in the wall.

But Diva was too quick for her and was already waiting at the wall when she got there.

Her sister barely had enough time to be _surprised _let alone defend herself as she saw Diva there and the other sword was quickly knocked away as well.

Then Diva's own weapon pulled back and punctured Saya through her trapezius, narrowly missing her heart.

The sword continued going through her and pushed Saya down, eventually pinning her to the floor.

Diva felt herself grin again, knowing that she'd beaten Saya.

But her sister wasn't hardening, wasn't turning into stone.

She wasn't _dying_.

Diva felt her grin disappear and she leaned in, wondering if it was just taking a while.

"Dying must have put a block in your memory." Saya spoke with little effort.

"Your blood can't crystallize me anymore. It's lost its purity." She stated.

Her eyes widened as she remembered how they'd stabbed each other at the opera house during their last battle and while Saya had begun to heal, she'd started to…

Her face turned into a snarl.

"Why?! Why am _I _the one who always gets the bad luck?! You should be _dead_! Just die already!" She yelled at her infuriating twin.

Yet Saya's face wasn't changing into a scowl.

"I won! You lost! You die and I don't! That's how it's supposed to happen! So die! Why won't you…" She trailed off.

"Sorry, Diva." Saya spoke seriously, not even seeming to put an effort into making it seem like she actually cared.

Then Saya pulled herself up through the sword, grunting in pain as she made her way up to Diva, grabbed her shoulders and then bit into her neck.

She felt her snarl disappear and loosen into complete surprise as Saya drank blood from her.

"Going decades without drinking anyone's blood but that one chevalier and now, when you finally drink from someone else, it's…me." Diva thought ironically.

The paralyzing surprise was soon replaced by a paralyzing weakness from her lack of blood and Saya let go of her, letting her fall to the floor, completely spent.

Her eyes, despite feeling like they weighed a hundred pounds each, managed to stay open slightly and she saw Saya pull the sword out of herself and the floor and then raise it.

"Again, huh?" She asked in a volume too low for anyone else to actually hear.

Saya moved and Diva could feel the blade approaching her.

She waited for it to cut into her, taking her life away yet again.

It sliced through her dress, and then she fell asleep.

* * *

Very short, I know, but this was definitely, I think, the best place to end the chapter. I should be able update soon.


	52. Final Feud Finish

He shot the blade.

Dante didn't know what the thing was about their blood, but with how pissed off Diva'd gotten when her blood didn't kill Saya and how scared she was now, he was willing to bet it was the only thing that could kill either of them.

The sword was well-forged, but in the end it was only human-made and Ebony's magically-enhanced bullet bit right through it, sending the part that would have cut into Diva flying up into the air, and leaving Saya looking surprised.

Dante started to sigh when he heard a thunk and his breath was caught in his throat when he saw the part of the blade that he'd just shot up into the air was sticking out of Diva.

Saya's eyes were even wider now, though in surprise of how the blade had punctured Diva anyway as opposed to Dante's intrusion.

It took a few seconds before they started hearing but, but it was definitely a strange kind of sound; like when you saw water quickly turned to ice in some movie, or when it was split apart in real life.

Because of the hole in Diva's dress her skin could be seen turning to a strange kind of diamond-like stone.

She laughed a weak sort of pathetic laugh, as if laughing at the irony of it and crying at the same time.

It spread across her stomach and that area stopped breathing, the before-crimson-stained color of her skin either over-coated or completely replaced by the diamond-like texture and look.

But then her strange pathetic laugh ceased, as did the spreading of the diamond-area.

Everyone in the room showed their surprise as the diamond-looking skin flaked off and left perfectly clean skin in its place.

"What's going on-" Saya's confused question was cut off as she brought her hand up to her mouth as if to keep herself from throwing up.

Then she actually _did _throw up; a ridiculous amount of blood spurting forth from her mouth as Saya fell, weakened herself, to the floor; she managed to land on her knees as opposed to her stomach as Diva had.

At first Dante had no damn idea what the hell was going on, but then the blood Saya'd thrown up started to actually _separate_.

In a few moments there was one pool of normally-colored blood and another pool of distinctly more purplish blood next to it, repulsing "Saya's" blood whenever the two pools touched.

"What's…"Saya trailed off, not seeming to understand what was going on any better than anyone else in the room.

Except for Diva and Dante anyway.

"It's…_Vergil's _blood!" He said with an actual tone of surprise.

Lady looked at him, a strange look on her face.

"How can you be sure?"

"Believe me, we've fought enough times for me to know what his blood smells like and _that's _it. But in order for that to have happened she would have had to of…" It was Dante's turn to trail off.

That she'd done something like to Vergil and he hadn't killed her was surprising enough, but they'd been _traveling _together?

Diva's wounds healed twice as quickly as they had before and the blade in her was actually pushed out of her body by the skin as it healed itself.

After a second she started to push herself up and Diva looked down at Saya, starting to regain her normal childishly-crazy smile.

Saya looked up at her younger twin and actually seemed to have a bit of fear in her eyes.

Diva stooped to pick up something and then Dante saw her pull one of those short swords up and raise it above her sister, pointing it at her neck.

"My blood may not be enough to kill you, but…"

She raised the sword

"…if I cut your head off and carry it around with me, you won't be able to come after me. _Will you_?" She spoke with a noticeable amount of maniacal glee in her voice.

But her attack was cut off when a huge sword was suddenly impaled in the wall next to them, both twins looking at Dante, the thrower.

"That's enough. She can't kill you. You can't kill her. Now that we've got that settled, enough fighting. You're totally wrecking up my shop. It'll take Lady _hours _to mop up all that blood."

"Hey, who said _I _was sweeping it up?" She interjected angrily.

"Anyway," He continued like he hadn't heard her.

", there's no reason for you two to fight. Neither one of you is doing something major and you don't _have_," he actually did quotation marks with his fingers.

", to kill each other. So if either of you try to kill the other again I'll put _both _of you into a time-out. Got it?" He asked, arms crossed.

"Hey! I look like sixteen! You can't 'time out' me!" Saya defended herself.

"We've been alive longer than _you _have!" Diva added.

They spoke in their first joint effort with both of them on the same side.

"_Got it_?" He asked, more imposingly.

Both of them pouted, though Diva's was easily more pronounced and she reluctantly let the weapon fall to the floor.

"_She _started it." She complained like a six-year old.

"What is this, kindergarten? And don't pout, it makes you little girls look bad."

"We are _not little_!" They yelled at him in unison.

"That's it!" He declared dramatically while hopping over his desk.

"Time out for the kiddies."

They grumbled something he didn't hear.

"What was that?"

The two looked up at him and then looked away.

"Nothing." They grumbled again.

He nodded.

"That's what I thought. Now come on."

They both started towards a corner but he raised a finger and shook it.

"No. No. _Opposite _corners."

The twins grumbled again and separated, both going to opposite ends of the room and sitting down, crossing their arms.

"If you don't mind," Dante heard Haji speak up quietly.

", my duty is to be by Saya's side-"

Dante shook his head, interrupting the man's first spoken words in like an hour.

"Nope. Not during a time out. Its void then. Just stand there and… well, wherever you are you look like you're in a time out anyway so just…stand there." Then Dante turned his attention away to assess the damage done to his shop.

"But Saya could be hurt-"

Dante pointed to another unoccupied corner in the shop.

A moment later Haji started to silently walk towards the corner in question.

"This is most inappropriate."

Dante ignored him as he continued to a corner himself, but simply stood there as opposed to sitting down like Saya and Diva had.

"Ah, ah, Saya, I see you reaching for the magazine. Put it down."

She grumbled while doing so.

All things considered, it hadn't really been Diva's and Saya's fault that the shop was thrashed as much as it was Vergil's.

"Bastard." Dante spoke under his breath, feeling a bit amused.

He picked up the two short-swords and tossed them, or in human terms, sending them flying across the room, only with an upward angle.

They stuck themselves in the wall near Haji and he seemed to understand enough to put them back in the cello case.

Dante looked at Saya's initial sword which lay in two pieces and decided it wouldn't be any good anymore and nudged them over to a wall with a foot.

"Can I have that please?" Saya asked politely, having instantly lost her angry attitude.

He actually looked at her because of this as he answered.

"Why's it so important? The thing is basically useless in a fight now anyway."

She looked down at the floor.

"The red…jewel…that's on it…it's part of my father."

Dante actually laughed at her crappy excuse.

"Please. You're just trying to get the sword so you can go after her again. She started to turn like _silver _when her skin changed, why should I think he'd turn _red_?"

Her head lowered even more.

"When our blood crystallizes it resembles a shining red stone. He…used my blood to kill himself when he started to turn into a chiropteran so that he could die as the father that we knew. After my sword was broken, I was given a new one with that in it. In that way, my father could always be with me."

As cheesy as the story sounded, she seemed genuinely depressed, and when you're really sad and you talk about things, you can get pretty over-dramatic.

"If you promise to behave you can have it back."

She looked up at him and nodded, looking less depressed now.

He nodded as well and picked up the two parts of the sword again as well as the sheath, put them inside it, and walked over to Saya, giving them to her.

"Thanks." She spoke softly while taking it.

Just then Diva got up and started to walk angrily toward the "archway" to the back of the building.

"Hey-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to have any fun, I'll just be in time out somewhere _else_."

Before he could stop her she was through the archway and he'd rather not chase after her when she was that upset, no telling how crazy she'd get.

He shrugged.

"That girl's got one hell of a weird personality." He commented hollowly while walking back over to his desk.

"Man, those two are even worse than Vergil and _I _are. Seriously, they should have a TV show or something."

But all complaints aside he needed to think about how he was going to find Vergil.

If he waited Vergil would definitely show up, but waiting just wasn't his style.

And he could be _anywhere _in the whole damn world!

Everything was falling apart; his home, his shop, his _pizza _for crying out loud!

Was nothing sacred?

Dante sighed and then leaned back in his chair.

A few seconds passed…

Then _that _fell apart too.

He sat in the rubble of it and stared straight ahead, trying his best not to just tear his desk apart.

"I'm at my friggin limit here."

* * *

Kind of an anti-climactic way to end the chapter but... eh.


	53. Separation

She kept walking until she was back in Lady's room and sat down on the bed, staring at where Saya's sword had cut her.

The truth was, if she hadn't drunk Vergil's blood she _would _have died, but this never even occurred to her.

The only thing that mattered to her was that the fight had reminded her of him.

And of how much she wanted to be with him.

After Lady used that weird gun or whatever and teleported Vergil somewhere else, waiting for him to come to Dante had become an extremely less-fun-sounding idea.

Even though it was like trying to hear a feather hit a carpeted floor she could still feel which direction he was in, and if she led everyone else to him then he might pay more attention to _Dante _than he would to _her_.

This meant she had to go looking for him on her own.

But while it was true she could move very fast towards him on her own she honestly didn't want to, it'd get boring quickly.

"Ah! I'll just _get _someone to take me to where he is!" She said excitedly while putting her usual carefree smile back on.

There was a window above Lady's bed which was definitely too small for someone bigger like Dante or Haji to even _squeeze _through, but it'd be easy for her.

Diva moved her fingers along the length of the dress she wore, as if feeling the dress he would get her already.

"Don't think you're getting off the hook just because you're all scary now." She said, smiling in a somewhat more subdued way than usual, but equally as pleased.

Then she stood up on the bed, pushed the window open, and crawled through it a bit, looking out in front of her.

There was someone with a blue outfit and strangely-clean shoes which contrasted with the scummy look of the alley.

"Ah. A policeman." She remarked while crawling out of the window, not really caring.

"Hey, are you hurt?" The policeman asked in a weirdly stern tone.

She waved at him while looking at how long the alleyway was.

About twenty yards to her right it broke and she could see the street; rather, the tons of cars that were driving back and forth on top of it.

When he approached her she looked at him with a bored expression, which he must have taken as meaning something else because he pulled two linked wristlets out from behind him.

"I get it, didn't hear any music but I guess you decided to get the party started earlier than usual, eh?"

Her head tilted out of curiosity.

"Why do you have wristlets?"

"You must be more out of it than I thought." He remarked while putting the wristlets on her.

"Ooh. You don't even have to _pull _them on. That's neat."

She felt something pushing against one and then both of her shoulders but thought it must just be the breeze and examined the wristlets more.

The policeman seemed angry at something and she noticed the wind was blowing a bit harder now.

But then she lost interest in the wristlets and let her hands fall to her side, unintentionally breaking the things that connected the two.

"Oops. Sorry, I broke your wristlets."

She heard him gasp and then shrugged, walking down the alley towards the street until she heard him pull something out and yell at her "Stop or I'll shoot!"

He was getting boring himself now but it didn't matter because she was walking away from him.

Then she felt something go through her that felt like-

"A bullet." She sighed.

They weren't really that big of a problem.

Since they usually went all the way through her there was nothing inside her body to get in the way when it healed itself, making the "repair" nearly instantaneous.

No. The reason she was upset was because unlike arrows and other things, the small size of the bullets and the fact that they moved so fast made it hard to catch them and throw them back.

Add to that, guns held a lot of bullets.

To sum it all up, they were a _huge _annoyance. That's all.

And annoyances were far worse than death-threatening things.

He kept shooting her, apparently shocked that she hadn't died after the first one hit her.

After like ten bullets though she felt something happen.

Her dress started to fall down.

Not that much really, just an inch or two. But it told her something.

This man was _ruining _her dress.

Though this didn't particularly anger her it _did _make her change her mind on what to do.

"I was thirsty anyway." She remarked, bored.

Then Diva shrugged and a moment later she was right in front of the policeman, staring into his eyes that were for some reason filled with fear.

Even though she'd never understood why it frightened people to belong to her it always made them that much more desirable.

She pushed the gun away and then leaned in, her teeth starting to grow…

* * *

"Agh. Damn it. I'm already in debt as it is. How the hell am I supposed to fix _this_?!" Dante said for the millionth time.

"Will you shut up already? One more time and it'll actually make a physical dent in my brain." Lady responded in a tone that belied just how angry she was.

A moment passed.

"How am I supposed to fix-"

He was cut off as a bullet shot through his mouth, knocking him off the desk.

Then a second later he pulled himself up onto the desk and sighed.

"So, what'll we do now? We don't know where the hell he is and the dolls aren't having nice little tea parties."

Saya held her tongue in "fear" of being put in a timeout again. Though she never had to let herself be put into one to begin with.

"If we just wait here he'll find us again anyway won't he?" Lady responded without seeming to put much thought into it.

He let out a sound of childish distaste.

"But I don't _want _to wait that long damnit!" He said in a pout.

Lady looked away from him, a look of boredom on her face.

"You know, Dante, you look and sound like a kid when you talk like that." She remarked while starting to take a sip from a can of coke she'd been drinking, when she realized it was no longer there.

"Mine!" He exclaimed before drinking the whole can in one gulp and belching loudly.

"That was _mine _you bastard!" She yelled while shooting at him again.

However, this time he caught the bullet with his teeth and grinned his usual cocky grin before spitting the bullet out into a trash can.

"Fine." She spat while hopping off the desk and aiming Kalina Ann at Dante and his desk.

"Hey, come on! This is an oak desk and I've had it since before I made the shop! It's like a memento or something! I even named it! William Chestnut Woodington the third!"

Her eyebrows rose momentarily before she started laughing at him, no longer having the strength to hold the heavy missile-launcher up.

Saya started to laugh herself when she heard gunshots outside the shop. Though it wasn't out front, they definitely were right outside of the building.

"Hey, those shots are pretty close." Lady spoke while trying to lose the humor in her voice.

"Eh, don't worry about it. After all that, someone's definitely dead. Shouldn't happen again."

Saya bit her lip while looking at the wall that separated them from wherever the shooter was.

"I'm going to go back and check on something." She said quietly while walking towards the back of the shop.

"Are you _serious_? Do I look like an idiot to you?" Dante interrupted while hopping in front of her.

She looked away a bit.

"Shut up! I'm not. You're not gonna just worm your way back there so you two can hack at each other again."

"But she could have gotten outside and attacked someone!"

He bit the corner of his lip a bit, deciding.

Eventually he sighed and shrugged.

"Okay. But I'm going back there with you."

Saya didn't say anything as they walked through the hall and looked through the rooms.

As she'd expected, no Diva.

"Where could she have gone?" Saya thought to herself while sitting down on a bed.

If Diva wanted to, she could have just punched through a wall to get out, but she hadn't and she was still gone.

The possibility that she was just trying to hide and make this into some kind of a childish game crossed Saya's mind. But they'd searched the whole back of the building and if they hadn't found her she probably would have giggled, satisfied with her "win."

Saya sighed and let herself fall back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I shouldn't have let her out of my sight. Why do I always let my guard down?"

Surprisingly she heard something answer her, but it was only the wind blowing in through the window.

It was Fall so the breeze made the room a bit too cold for her, with what she was wearing anyway.

Someone would have to be crazy to walk around outside right now wearing only a dress.

Her eyes widened in realization.

"Cold. Crazy. Wind. Window!"

Saya virtually leapt up to the window above her head and strained to look through it.

And there was Diva, drinking from an unfortunate person who was unlucky enough to be in the alley when got there.

Saya started to crawl up through the window and as she did, Diva noticed her, giving that carefree satisfied smile of hers, the innocence in her expression lost with the addition of blood at the corner of her lips.

She tried to get up into the alley but felt a strong hand grab her ankle and pull her back into the room.

Looking down she saw it was Dante.

"Hey, what're you up to? Climbing around like a damn Koala bear like that."

"Let me go! Diva's out in that alley feeding on someone!"

He did so, but it was too late.

Diva was gone.

Saya ran over to the man who she now realized was a police officer and felt for a pulse on his neck.

She yelped out in surprise when a cold hand came up and grabbed her arm.

"She's…not…human." He mumbled weakly before the hand fell away and both his eyes and his pulse went dead.

Saya looked down at the ground.

"No. She isn't. And neither am I. And this is both our faults."

Then she narrowed her eyes and pushed herself up, staring out of the alley with a determined gaze.

"Haji."

He was already next to her, and stepped forward to make sure she was aware that he was at her side.

"Can you help me find her?"

"If that is your wish Saya."

They were going to depart when the two of them heard someone yelling at them from the other side of the window.

"Wait damnit! Come on, just hold up for a second! We should look for her together or we'll never find her!"

Saya glanced back over her shoulder, looking down at Dante, who was too big to fit through the window and not fast enough to get out of the building and to her before she could leave.

"I'm sorry, Dante. But things are different now. Diva is loose. We aren't the only ones in danger now. If I can manage to just capture her then we'll try to come back here."

His unnaturally-strong fist slammed into the pavement, making a small crater in it.

"Listen for a second! You two can't kill each other anymore! Her blood doesn't kill you and your blood doesn't kill her! Look, I've had my fair share of super-human sibling fights and I'm here to tell ya that _neither _of you is going to be able to stop the other one. You'll just keep fighting forever."

She looked away.

"If that's what it takes to keep her from hurting innocent people then I'm willing to accept that fate."

"Bullshit!"

Saya stopped and looked back at him, surprised.

"You don't want to chase after your sister for the rest of eternity! You've lived with humans and _that's_ what you _want_ to do! I know it! Diva doesn't know what that's like so she's gonna keep wandering until she finds Vergil. I don't know how but it seems like he and her have some kind of connection. So she's going to go after him. Besides, this is the city. No one's innocent here."

"That's not the point! What I mean is that they have the right to live just like every other thing on this planet."

"Even Diva?"

She turned away from again.

"Goodbye Dante."

"You idiot! You're not going to be able to stop her so what's the point?!"

"The point is that she's my sister and it's my responsibility to find her and _try _to stop her. This isn't about what I _do_. It's about why I'm _trying_ to do it. It's my duty to do all that I can to keep her from killing more people. It's a family matter."

With that he fell silent and she left with Haji.

Dante looked at his right palm, and at the scar that he'd intentionally kept his body from healing.

"Family matter huh?"

* * *

Sorry it's taken so long, but like I've said, I'm just waiting for that motivation to get started on it again. Then the continuous updates that(dare I call you guys) my fans enjoyed so much.


	54. Plans

She'd walked down a few "blocks" as people seemed to like calling them nowadays, to make sure Saya wouldn't see her if her twin had decided to chase after her.

"Where is he?" She asked the air.

For a few moments it gave her no answer.

Then…a slight breeze blew and she could just barely smell his scent coming to her left.

She never _did _have a good sense of direction, as far as north, south, east and west were concerned anyway. So she didn't know what "direction" she was headed.

Diva didn't care either.

What mattered to her was that in this direction was Vergil. And his direction was the way she wanted to go. That's all there was to it.

Diva looked back the way she'd come, searching for Saya.

She wasn't being cautious as much as she was just curious; it'd be a lot of fun if they had one of those "taxi chases" like in the movies.

Diva giggled a bit at that and then waved her arms in a much bigger motion than was required, and caught the attention of a taxi that was near her.

It drove up next to her, almost splashing filthy water on her already-stained dress.

She got in the back and closed the door behind her.

"Which way are you headed?" He asked as if they were just talking in a regular conversation.

Of course, Diva being Diva, she hadn't noticed the subtle change and pointed in the direction she wanted to go in.

He gave a quick laugh, apparently at how she'd just pointed somewhere as opposed to telling him where to go.

Then he started driving in that direction.

Diva looked out the window. Or at the very least, she looked in that direction.

But while bars, clubs and other similar places flashed by with everything else she hadn't noticed them even the slightest bit.

Because as far as she could see, hear, smell or think, the only thing that existed at this moment was Vergil.

"So…" The taxi driver began.

"Why are ya headin', you know, 'this' way?" He asked, trying to point in the direction the same way she had.

"I'm going to someone." She spoke back, apparently giving some hint to how important this was to her.

"They must be someone pretty damn special for you to be going to see them at this time of the night." He stated.

Diva felt herself smile in an uncommon way; a tragic, longing smile.

"He is. He's the only person who matters." Diva told him as if it was something you would say to almost everyone.

But this was a stereotypical taxi driver; a person whose social skills quite possibly rival those of the most hardcore club socializer.

So he didn't react strangely when she said that.

"Well, that's what's important, you know? You go out there and you find someone who makes ya happy, and you cling to them like moss on a damn tree."

Her smile deepened a bit and she actually felt a bit amused, despite her often "strange" sense of humor.

"He'll never get away from me again. I'm going to be with him forever."

"There ya go. Till death do us part." He spoke while turning a corner.

Her smile widened more and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"No…"

Then Diva's eyes reopened.

"_Nothing _will part me from him again."

* * *

They continued walking along the street, trying to stay as discreet as they possibly could, but Saya had suspected five minutes ago that Diva was already gone.

Now she was _sure _of it.

Saya didn't know how Diva had managed to hide herself in anything even remotely resembling a social setting, but somehow she'd found a way.

"Saya," Haji spoke up in his usual quiet voic,e which she almost didn't hear with all the noise around them.

"What is it Haji?" She asked him while still scanning the crowds for any sign of her younger twin.

"Perhaps Diva managed to signal a taxi cab. It would explain why we cannot find her."

Saya thought about that for a moment.

It _would _tell them why her socially-deprived sister wasn't sticking out like a sore thumb in front of them. And the fact that taxi drivers were used to dealing with all kinds of people meant that as long as she hadn't killed them they probably wouldn't have had a problem driving her anywhere.

But that also made it possible that they would never find her.

She seemed to be the only one with even the slightest hint of which direction Vergil was in and given he could be anywhere in the _world _as opposed to just the city, it wasn't just unlikely that they would be able to find her; it was near-impossible.

And because they no longer had Cinq Fleches to chase after there was really no way to track her down.

Not to mention it'd taken _decades _to find her, even when they _did _have the company to follow.

"But if that's the case, we have really no idea of where to look." Saya finally responded to him after realizing she'd been silent for several minutes.

"Perhaps not."

She had been greatly surprised by his response this time.

Haji almost never seemed to say anything that might contradict what Saya was saying, and even when he did, it was only when he knew something was more important to her than his talking back to her. Of course, she never minded anyway.

"There is a way in which we could locate Vergil. If we are able to do that, Diva will inevitably find us."

Saya thought about this as well.

"But how can we find him Haji? He could be anywhere in the whole world."

There were a few moments of silence, between them anyway.

The two were all-but oblivious to what the hundreds of people on that block alone were doing right now.

"There is one way that we can be sure will lead us to him." He spoke up again.

Saya looked back at him, interested.

"What way is that?"

* * *

"Screw you."

That's what Dante said to Saya after she told him their plan.

However, she didn't retort.

Still that didn't help much.

"You went chasing after her, making that big dramatic declaration, and now, when you couldn't find her, you come back here and tell me you want my help again? You've got _some _nerve doll."

Saya again held her tongue.

"Almost nothing pisses me off more than people who manipulate other people. And what _does _piss me off more is when someone tries to manipulate _me_."

She waited a few seconds before turning away from him.

"I understand. I'm sorry for asking."

"But…"

Saya turned back towards him, seeming both surprised and hopeful.

"That _is _a pretty good plan. And I couldn't use your plan without letting you tag along could I?"

A smile started to force its way onto her face and she bowed appreciatively, momentarily forgetting they were in America, not Japan.

Of course, Dante's ego didn't mind the extra attention.

"Thank you."

"Eh, don't worry about it. It's not like I've got a choice, right? You'd just follow me anyway. And you wouldn't look good in a trench coat and sunglasses, talking to each other over two-way radios."

She stood upright again, looking on at him as he continued.

"And you'd be all like, 'Oh I can't stand to hide myself from Dante! He's so devilishly handsome!' And he'd just stand there like he always does-"

"So," Lady tried to interrupt, caring a lot less about how she hadn't been included in the conversation up until now, and much more interested in trying to get him to shut up.

Of course, she never had a chance at the latter one.

"Where did you intend to go?"

Dante's romantic-comedy ranting continued, albeit with sloppy wet sounds of him kissing the air and going on with his dramatic love-story/spy-thriller.

"Well, I thought that we should go someplace that wasn't near any major cities, so when they fight they won't hurt any innocent people."

Dante finally shut up, mid-kiss.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Saya looked back at Dante.

"Where we were planning to broadcast the radio message. To tell Vergil where we were."

He blinked a few times.

Saya tried not to let herself get upset at how Dante hadn't listened to a word she said when she told him about their plan earlier.

"In the plan, we go somewhere and find a way to broadcast a message on the radio. The message will tell him where we are so he can find us."

He seemed to be paying attention somewhat this time.

"I was saying we should go somewhere isolated so that he wouldn't hurt any innocent people while you two were fighting."

He nodded dumbly, most likely on purpose.

"So, all we need to do is find a cool, out-of-the way place to fight, somehow find a way to broadcast a radio message to the whole world from the middle of nowhere and oh yeah- give him a goddamn audio mapquest of how to get there from anywhere in the world. That's a splendid plan. I mean, it fits together so perfectly. Foolproof."

"It _does _seem like it would be a little difficult to get that all set up. Not to mention Dante's broke as hell; we'd have to find somewhere pretty close by or it would be one hell of a hike." Lady added, agreeing with him for the first time since they'd got here.

Saya smiled.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have friends who can help us with that kind of stuff."


	55. Preparation

"So… Diva is alive."

That is what Joel said after Saya told him the story of what was going on.

Given how dangerous Vergil obviously was, that was not the most significant detail there was in the story.

But then again, Vergil hadn't killed one of his ancestors and he hadn't been responsible for thousands of human deaths throughout the world.

Most importantly, he hadn't been born as a result of said ancestor's scientific curiosity.

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone line and she couldn't help but wonder what it was that Joel was thinking.

After her and Diva's fight had been…finished, at the opera house, he had given her his phone number for her to call if she ever needed help with anything.

And though she probably should have called him earlier, he _did _deserve to know that she was alive as much as anyone else.

But… if the defacto-Red Shield, which technically no longer existed, got involved, humans would inevitably be put through more pain and sadness.

And she _couldn't_ lose another friend or family member.

Somehow she could tell Joel knew this.

"Saya…"

She was snapped from her internal thoughts as she started listening again.

"If Diva is allowed to run free, we both know what could happen."

This was turning in the direction she'd hoped it wouldn't be.

"And the possibility that you, Haji and the people whom you have allied yourself with will find her is, honestly, not all that great."

"Joel…"

"But you seem to have a good plan of how to find her. And if I can't trust your judgement, Saya, whose _can _I trust?" He asked with a much more positive tone than before.

Though she was only hearing this through a phone Saya actually found herself as surprised as if he had spoken it to her in person.

"I will do whatever I can to help. But this is yours and Diva's situation. It is up to the two of you to resolve this age-old conflict and finally bring an end to all the pain it has caused. To us, and to you as well."

Saya felt herself starting to cry but she kept herself from doing so.

She would wait until the end to do that.

"Thank you so much Joel."

His smile on the other end of the phone was almost audible in its power.

"You're welcome Saya."

They waited a few moments before he spoke up again.

"So, did you have a particular place in mind?"

Her eyes hardened in determination.

"Yes. The place where we should have finished our conflict from the beginning..."

* * *

"So, what do you think is going to happen?" Lady asked him as he shuffled around in the back of the building, looking for his favorite weapons.

It was also partially to give Saya some privacy, but he really wanted to poke through his stash for the toughest, sharpest, most pointiest kill-instrument he could find.

"What do you mean? I'm going to _win _of course. You stupid or something?"

She sighed in irritation.

"But he's gotten so much stronger. Can you really beat him?"

He tossed some ceremonial dagger over his shoulder, almost impaling it in Lady by accident.

"Hey, watch it!"

Dante waved her off while tossing other things behind him, creating a gauntlet of near-impossible dodge situations for Lady.

"Eh, you're such a worrywart. Will _this_ happen? What if _that_ happens? Relax. Pull the _lance_ out already." He spoke while ironically pulling an actual lance out of its storage space.

He turned around, poking it into the air, again almost unintentionally skewering his human devil-hunter partner.

She pushed it away, slapped him, and then pulled the weapon from his hands and threw it to the floor; breaking the tip.

"Hey! You broke it!"

"Don't be such a baby." She spoke while taking a few of the guns from his collection as her own.

"Waaah!" He let out in a disturbingly-accurate representation of a child's pout.

They both noticed Saya walk into the doorway.

"Is something-" She saw Dante's whining and felt something between pity and amusement.

"Saya! She _broke _it!" He virtually screeched while approaching her with the broken lance in his hands.

"Oh, I'm…sorry."

"She's such a meanie!"

"Shut _up _Dante! You're acting like a little girl!" Lady yelled at him.

"You _would _know how to _not _act like a girl wouldn't you?" He asked, almost ruining his performance with a quick humorous grin.

"What did you say?!"

"Waaah!"

Saya found herself extremely out of place in this ridiculous comedy scene and started to retreat so she could let them play it out on their own. But Dante immediately noticed this and chased after her.

"You wouldn't be _mean _like her, would you?"

Though he kept following her, Saya herself kept retreating through the halls towards the front of the shop.

"Oh, um. No." She managed out while almost tripping on an old boot.

"Of course not!" He declared melodramatically while casually throwing, and impaling, the lance into a wall.

Dante's arms opened wide in horrendous preparation of a hug.

"Come here good friend!"

Saya brought her hands up in an attempt to show that she wasn't interested but it apparently looked like her own version of a hug because Dante chugged across the hallway with the look and speed of a railroad train.

But suddenly the locomotive was brought to a screeching halt as a bullet whizzed by his silver hair from behind.

Rather, shot _through _it.

He whipped around, seemingly glaring at her.

"Oh no you _didn't_! My hair! My beautiful silver mane!"

"Shut up!" Lady yelled back to him.

"You were just trying to hug on a sixteen-year-old girl! And you're only wearing a coat! Put a _shirt _on at least!"

"She's like hundreds of years old! What are you talking about?"

"Maybe, but she looks, acts and probably _thinks _like she's _sixteen_!"

"So what? _You _look like you're sixteen and I've seen _you _going off with guys every now and then."

"Come closer and say that!"

"You look, sound and act like a kid!"

"How would you like to _perform _like one?!" She spat while aiming below his belt.

Saya took this chance to speak up.

"Um, I hate to interrupt you two, but…"

Their stupid scene finally ended and they paid attention to her.

"We're going to go to a broadcast station here in the city so we can, well, broadcast the message. One of my friends sent a car to come pick us up a few minutes ago. So we really need to get moving now if we…"

They continued to stare at her.

"I thought we were going somewhere isolated like _in _the city or something."

"No, there's nowhere around that's that isolated."

Dante faced Lady again.

"Well, we could go to a public library or something. No one goes to those."

"Actually, people _do_. People who know how to read something other than porn magazines anyway."

"Don't censor me."

As funny as they were to watch Saya really meant what she said. They needed to get ready.

"No, it's not in the city. But the broadcast station is."

Dante sighed and then walked back to the room he'd been in before to get things ready in a boringly-serious fashion.

Lady started going through the building, making sure all the windows, doors and other things were locked while they were gone, and Saya returned to the shop at the front of the building.

Getting serious about his searching, Dante pulled Cerberus out of the trunk and put it on the back of his coat, next to Ebony & Ivory, which were never five feet from him.

He spent a moment deciding whether he should take Beowulf or not, but then decided he should put it in a trunk or something and bring them with him.

A huge sword, guns and a weird-looking shining blue nunchuk thing were strange enough. But gauntlets and greaves that radiated a white light were a bit _too _weird.

And Nevan wouldn't be very useful against Vergil with how damn fast he was.

He could bring Agni & Rudra, but there was _no _way he was going to _wear_ them; they would drive him to insanity with all their talking.

But then again, if they started talking when they were in a trunk at the airport there's no telling what could happen.

Eventually he decided to just put them down and forget about them.

There wouldn't be much of a point in bringing any other guns since, like with Nevan, he was too quick to get hit by them.

And that was really all there was to it.

Except for one thing of course.

Dante closed the trunk, locked it, and then carried it to the shop and dropped the heavy thing on the floor with a lack of subtlety.

However, he wasn't doing it for comedic effect this time.

In fact, Dante wasn't trying to create any kind of atmosphere right now.

All he was trying to do was decide what to bring; Rebellion, or Force Edge.

To a normal person it probably wouldn't be as big a deal.

After all, they _were _only swords.

But to Dante, who could feel the energy that came from the weapons, he knew that they were much more than that; they were his comrades.

He had been played and lied to all of his life, because he was capable of doing things humans could only dream of.

And when he got the job or whatever done, the person who hired him ripped him off and ended up taking most if not all of the money he'd earned with them.

It wasn't that big of a deal, but the simple fact that it was always happening, that he had almost no one that he could rely on, had gradually sapped his mind over the years.

In fact, now that he thought about it, Lady was the only person who'd never really screwed him over. And even _she _had occasionally tricked him out of some money.

The only things he could always trust were his weapons.

And of those, Rebellion and Force Edge were by far his closest "friends".

Which is why he was having such a hard time choosing.

There wasn't enough room on his coat to carry both of them, and he'd die before just shoving one into a box.

"Dante?" He heard someone ask him from behind.

Turning around he saw that it was Saya.

"What?" He responded in an obviously monotone-like voice.

"Is something wrong?"

He scratched his head a bit, not sure what to say.

It'd sound weird if he just told her "yeah, my swords are my only buddies and I'd feel like an asshole leaving a friend behind."

"Uh…"

"You know, there _is _another sword sheath in the back, Dante." Lady said behind him while entering the room herself.

"Oh. Never mind then." He managed out, embarrassed.

Then he ran into the back, found the thing, grabbed it, and ran back to the front of the shop.

"I knew that. For the record."

Lady didn't even seem to be paying attention to him anymore.

His ego hurt but not wounded, Dante put the sword holster on his belt.

Then he fastened all manner of straps and stuff until it felt right, and put Force Edge in it.

Afterwards he hopped up onto his desk and stared off into the heavens, ready to kick the _world's _ass if necessary.

"Okay! Let's go!" Dante declared melodramatically.

A few moments of silence passed.

More.

"Um, the car isn't here yet." Saya said quietly, trying to keep herself from laughing.

Dante grumbled something inaudible and then reluctantly sat down in a chair, waiting for that style-wrecking car to arrive.

* * *

I know it by far wasn't one of the better chapters but I'm better at action stuff than just hanging around, I think. Also, this is getting to the end of the story. There's still several chapters ahead, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ended before chapter 66. The good news is that will give me the chance to work on the other stories.

Also, in response to Mizugage2's review on chapter 53, the main reason Vergil is so powerful now is because he's allowed himself to be overcome by his demon side, as well as absorbing the remainder of Enzeru's power before he died. I wouldn't, if I spotted it, ever have someone just suddenly be invincible... unless it helped the story along. heh.

Lastly, though I have an idea of where I want them to go, if anyone else has a place they would really like to see the story end, feel free to say so. I'm not guaranteeing I'll use it, but the offer's still open.


	56. Broadcast

"Are you ready?" Joel asked Saya after she'd stepped in front of the camera.

"Yes." She spoke. Not entirely sure if she was.

But she had to do this; otherwise there was no telling how many people Diva would hurt.

Dante and Lady were watching her from farther away than the rest of her friends were, who themselves were standing behind the video camera.

They hadn't all arrived at the same time.

When he heard that Diva was still alive, Kai had been the first to get here.

David, Joel, Julia and Lewis had been next, and Mao and Okamura arrived last.

All watched her from outside the video camera's view; even Haji, who was otherwise always at her side.

"Okay. Five. Four. Three. Two. One…"

Then the cameraman pointed at her and she knew the broadcast had been started.

She didn't speak for a few seconds, and she was sure some of the others were beginning to think she had stage fright.

"Vergil…" She began solemnly.

"We are broadcasting this message to tell you where we will be. Or, more importantly to you, where _Dante _will be."

There were a few more seconds of silence before she spoke again.

"The power that you seek will be there as well."

She noticed Dante's and Lady's slight surprise; and Dante's minute irritation.

"However, my own purpose in broadcasting this message has nothing to do with you. I am only doing this so I can find my sister, Diva. If she is indeed following after you then she will arrive at that place eventually as well."

Saya took a deep breath.

"She and I will finish _our _conflict, and you and Dante can finish _yours_. Either way, our feuds will end there…"

Another deep breath.

"Diva, we will be where you and I were born. Where we shouldn't have been created to begin with and where we _should _have died the first time we met. Vergil, you will be able to feel where we are from the power that emanates from there. Regardless of who survives, our battles…"

She looked down at the floor for a moment and then back at the video camera, staring straight ahead.

"Everything will end there."

Then the camera turned off and she stepped off the stage, immediately everyone started walking towards her, except for Joel, who was already waiting near the video camera.

"That was well-spoken, Saya." He complimented her politely.

Despite his reassurance she still didn't feel uplifted.

"Thank you."

They didn't speak again until everyone was near them, Dante and Lady still staying a few feet away from the rest.

At some point Haji had made his way to her side again as well.

"So, the message will continue to be broadcasted for six days?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

She nodded herself, though Saya didn't know why.

At that moment she didn't know what she was fighting for.

She honestly didn't know…if she could kill her sister a second time.

Saya just didn't know…

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, seeing Kai's smiling face.

"I know this is hard on you Saya. And I know it's too dangerous for us to go with you. But we'll be here waiting for you until you come back. And then we can go home again. Together."

"And you'd _better _come back, Saya! Or you'll have _me _to answer to!" Mao added.

"You are the only one who can put an end to this." David spoke as well.

Saya nodded and then smiled.

"Thank you." She said, thanking all of her friends.

After a few minutes of talking to everyone she decided it was time to leave, and said her goodbyes.

She and Haji walked over to Dante and Lady, who were waiting near the exit.

"Ready to go?" He asked with his grin.

She nodded, and then they left the building; heading for France, and "The Zoo".

Where everything had started… and where everything would end.

* * *

Vergil moved around too much.

He would be heading in one direction this hour, and another the next.

In fact, she'd had to stop several times for a snack and now realized that normal people didn't taste _nearly _as good as her usual choices did.

Diva ran childishly down a street as she felt him change direction again and passed a TV in a shop's window.

She came to a stop, however, when she heard Saya's voice coming from it.

Taking a few steps back, she noticed that it _was _Saya.

"-However, my own purpose in broadcasting this message has nothing to do with you. I am only doing this so I can find my sister, Diva-"

Diva giggled childishly.

"Oh sister. You're always the same. So straightforward and candid."

* * *

"Vergil, you will be able to feel where we are from the power that emanates from there."

"_**Power….**_"

"_**…Dante…**_"

* * *

Short and not the best, but it sets everything up.


	57. Approach

They were in a small airplane, heading for France.

It was cramped and obviously designed for speed more than it was for comfort.

Of course, there was still room for the four of them, as well as the pilot.

Dante had tried to get the pilot to let _him_ fly it, confident that he could do it; like he could do everything else.

But Lady quickly shot down that hope of his, on the grounds that not all of them could survive a plan crash with no long-lasting injuries, if surviving at all.

"You used my motorcycle as a _weapon _for god's sake. But if you watch him and actually learn how to do it, maybe I'll let you fly some other time." She teased him like she was his mother.

Saya and Haji sat quietly at the very back of the plane, whose cabin was only a few yards long.

Though talking to her friends had made more confident that she could do this, it didn't really make it any _easier _in the long run.

The last time…when she…_killed_…Diva, Saya had instantly regretted doing so the second she saw that Diva's wound wasn't healing, and that one of her hands that had been touching it started to turn to crystal-like stone…

Her purpose, her cause- hadn't mattered at all to her then.

All that had mattered was that her sister was dying…

And that _she _was the cause of that.

_She watched as her sister looked up into the air, wondering why, like always, she was the only one who had been hurt._

_Saya rushed over to her and as she did she heard a cracking sound; like when ice separates in water._

_A second later…Diva's left arm moved and she could see glistening red crystals peeking out from where the two offending body parts were separating…_

_She tried, in vain, to help Diva reattach the limb, but moments afterward, her legs burst and she fell down with a disturbingly-solid thump._

Her arm falling off…

And then her legs exploding into tiny shards out from under her…

Saya had…she hadn't been able to think anything, other than how sorry she was for what she had done to her little sister.

"Saya?"

Haji's soft, calm voice pulled her out of her self-torture and she looked up at him.

"Is something troubling you?" He asked, trying to hold his concern at bay behind his mask of inexpressiveness.

He knew something was; probably even knew _what _was.

But he was trying his best to let her tell him or not tell him, as opposed to just trying to help her.

Every time he gave her a decision on something, something that could hurt her... he was sacrificing a piece of himself to do so; just to help her.

She had never really understood that until now.

"I…it's nothing to worry about. I was just thinking. That's all."

But realistically she had in her own way been contemplating _not _doing this.

"I understand, Saya."

"Thank you Haji."

Their serious atmosphere was shattered when Dante leapt across the whole length of the plane in their direction.

Saya curled away to brace for impact, but didn't feel him collide with her.

After a few seconds she had the courage to peak out from under her arm, and didn't see him.

"You know I just don't get you, doll. You're willing to fight huge demon--bat-things, your own thirst for blood, _and _your super-sister who's, let's face it, not just a _little _creepy. And yet you're afraid of little-old me, just trying to give ya a hug."

He was sitting in the same general area as her, but on the other side of the aisle.

Sure now that she was "safe", Saya let herself resume her normal sitting position.

"I am _not _a doll. And I'm _not _afraid of you giving me a hug. And…and..."

It took her a few seconds to realize it, but with his ridiculous attitude Dante had somehow managed to make her lose, if only for now, her regret.

When she looked at him again she thought she saw an actual smile form for a second, and then he stood up, placing a hand on her shoulder as he did so.

"I know how you feel. Believe me, I've been there. Heh. I _am _there. But… we do what we have to, right?" He asked her, the smile now prevalent on his face.

She looked at him for a few seconds and then nodded.

"Yes."

His hand gripped her shoulder tighter, and then he walked back to the front of the plane.

She could do this.

She _knew_ she could.


	58. Directions, wall mart, and cartsurfing

Why did Saya have to pick the zoo?

Diva hated that place.

She _hated_ it.

Returning to the tower alone had been more than enough for her last time.

Why did Saya have to pick that place?

Diva didn't know and, after a few seconds of thinking about it, didn't care either.

She had been experimented on in that place for years.

Having things taken from her; skin, muscle, bones, organs…

It had essentially been a scientific version of torture for her all those years.

Yet all of this paled in comparison to the fact that she now knew where Vergil was going to be.

She didn't particularly enjoy how long it would take to reach the place.

It would take forever, but it sure beat running in random directions; not sure if she was following what direction he _was _heading in or what direction he _had _been heading in; like scientists observing a star which might already be dead.

But at the thought that she might be reunited with her silver-haired companion Diva's patience was increased ten-fold.

This meant that she was able to wait whole _seconds_ before she became bored again.

It was bad enough being bored, but Diva had absolutely no idea where she was.

In fact, she could have sworn she ran past that TV shop at least three more times by now.

Then all of a sudden her shoes cried in protest as she came to a screeching halt and put one hand in the other; an imaginary light bulb flickering on above her head.

"I should ask for _directions_!" She decided.

"Let's see, who around here could tell me where I can go?"

She scanned the street she was currently on for any potential "directionalists" which was now a word because she wanted it to be.

There was a man in an expensive-looking suit reading a book with an unpronounceable name that said it was "fifth in the series".

"No, he's too stupid."

At a gas station there was someone who was reading a map of the city.

"Anyone who needs a map can't know where to go."

Then she spotted a scary-looking person who was eyeing her from an alley.

"He looks like he gets around."

After a few nods to herself Diva started walking down the alley, wondering what the shiny thing was in the man's hand.

* * *

"_**France…**_"

"_**...Zoo……..**_"

* * *

"Well, he was no help at _all_." She pouted as the man flew into the back wall of the dead-end alley and then slid down it into a dumpster, not coming out.

All he'd done was put that shiny thing, some kind of junky knife, to her throat and drag her back into the alley.

She'd waited at least half a minute and he didn't do anything she wanted.

Eventually, when she felt her dress falling down, Diva had simply thrown him out of her way and left the alley; looking for a place to get a new one.

Diva had really wanted to wait until Vergil bought her a new dress to wear anything else, but this one wouldn't last much longer.

The remaining threads that had been holding up the left side were torn in the alley so now only the few string-like fibers on the right side were the last defense against her being a lot colder.

But there wasn't a clothes shop on this street that appealed to her.

All that she could see were "Baby Gap" and "Banana Republic"

Diva put a fingertip to her mouth, wondering if she'd somehow reached the suburbs.

After a second she smiled again and shrugged, walking towards Banana Republic.

However, on the way there she spotted something infinitely more interesting than those waves of various colored khaki's and polo shirts.

It was a huge store that made her wonder if it was a new breed.

Its parking lot was bigger than the building itself and contained many cars.

"Huh." She let out while staring at the huge white letters affixed above one of the large entrances with interest.

"Wall…mart…"

She repeated the words she saw and then shrugged and headed towards the front entrance.

"It's not like I'll be in there long."

* * *

...FIVE HOURS LATER…

Diva walked out of the store, which now had flames lapping at every window and door, with screams coming out from within its depths.

Behind her she pulled a cart, which was attached to another cart, which was attached to another, which was attached to _another_, and was attached to several more.

They had all been bent, broken and otherwise manipulated by a certain multi-tasking-disliking chiropteran girl to stay together so she wouldn't have to keep track of all of them.

As the last of the carts made it through the front entrance the doors closed and muffled an explosion from within the gargantuan store.

"There were a lot of things in there!" She reflected, giddy at all the things she had gotten inside.

And there had been a buffet-worth of 'snacks" in almost every aisle of the store.

Some of them looked and tasted like garbage, but others were absolutely delicious.

"Wall mart is a very fun place!" Diva declared to everyone who was watching.

Though there were only a few people who had survived her feeding frenzy that escaped the store itself, there _were _many police cars and the like scattered around the parking lot, surrounding her and the burning building.

Despite their surprise that a single "human" could do all that mayhem they _did _seem capable of aiming their guns at her.

One of them held up a strange-looking funnel with a handle that had a button on it.

He pressed the button and talked into it and suddenly his voice was much louder than normal.

"Let go of the…carts… and put your hands above your head."

"Hey!" She spoke excitedly while letting her chariot of shopping-carts go and thoughtlessly after-imaging over to the man that was holding the loud-voice-making funnel.

Diva snatched the thing and pressed the button, talking back at him.

"Cute toy!"

He instantly clutched his ears and fell back in pain.

The other people around her aimed their guns at her and she looked at them, speaking into the funnel-thing as she did so.

"Why are all you people hanging out here? Is something fun happening?" She asked them, the people closer to her recoiling and dropping their guns to block their ears.

She pouted and dropped the toy which no longer held her interest and after-imaged back to her carts.

"Freeze!" Another of them yelled at her.

Diva waved them off while rifling through the goods in her carts.

"All right, take her down."

They were starting to bore her, so she detached the front cart; the one which held some of her more favorite clothes, and "whipped" the ones behind it at the people and the rows of cars surrounding her.

She continued pulling it away and swinging her "whip" of carts around until too many of them broke for her to be interested anymore.

Diva threw the last of the cart-whip at them and then got in her clothes-cart and stood up in it, riding around the parking lot and unintentionally avoiding gunfire as she did so.

Eventually she reached the edge of it and rode off the curb and into the street.

For several minutes Diva thoroughly enjoyed surfing around in her cart on the streets and sidewalks of the area until she spotted a large glowing sign that look like a map on one of the corners.

She hopped out of her "ride" and landed on the sidewalk, grabbing hold of and stopping the cart as she did so.

There was a place called a "pier" a few miles away.

According to several movies, which were her most credible and extensive source of information on the outside world, a "pier" was a place where boats would be.

Diva's curious frown was replaced be her excited smile again and she hopped back into cart, riding it in what she assumed the direction of the pier was.

* * *

I realize this was a bit "over the top", even for Diva, but honestly, if we had the ability to do all of that wouldn't all of us have done the same thing? If you answer "no" you are most likely either legally sane or just uptight. heh. I'll try and update as soon as possible.


	59. Arrival

"When it's over, just call me on that radio and I'll come and pick you up." The pilot told them as Dante pulled the radio and it's transceiver out of the back.

"Okay." Saya responded while stepping a safe distance away from the plane.

Dante came back and pulled the other stuff out of the plane.

"You just make sure you actually _come _when we call ya. There's nothing that pisses me off more than walking and swimming thousands of miles back home."

Lady rolled her eyes as she slung her tote bag full of guns over the shoulder Kalina Ann wasn't on and stepped away from the plane, walking over to Saya.

"Saya, are there any kinds of poisonous snakes or anything around here that you know of?"

Saya was a little bit confused and surprised by the question but shook her head.

"Um, no. I mean, they at least shouldn't be around _here_."

Lady nodded her head and then thanked Saya, heading off deeper into the castle-grounds.

Dante spotted her while putting everything down out of the plane's way and yelled after her, though he probably didn't need to.

"Hey! Where ya going?!"

"I'm going to set up a position. If either of them shows up it'd be better if I was out of sight."

Dante scratched his head and then shrugged.

"Whatever". He spoke to himself.

Saya looked for a suitable place to rest and spotted a building that was still in fairly good condition.

Though it was about dawn now it was already getting quite warm and it would be bright out before they knew it.

"Dante, could you please carry the things over into that building over there?" She asked politely, pointing at the one she'd chosen.

"What do I look like? A valet?"

The plane started up and both Saya and Haji started heading for the building.

"It would be better if our things weren't exposed to the sun. Not to mention you're about to be deafened by that plane if you don't get away quickly."

He grumbled something and then picked everything up and headed for the building as well.

"Yeah, yeah."

It would probably be more comfortable if they went into the mansion, but there wouldn't be any room to move around in there if they were attacked.

And honestly she didn't want to go back to her old room; it would make her feel strange.

Her life here all those years ago seemed like an entirely separate one to her now.

The building they were heading for looked to be one of the servants' buildings.

It was one of the most undamaged of the still-standing structures and would probably be the most comfortable place to lie down in except for the mansion itself.

Saya wasn't used to staying up all night and she wanted to make sure she was well-rested if Vergil or Diva got here sooner than they expected.

They reached the building and Saya tried to pull the door open, but she couldn't get it to move.

She tried pushing as well but the stubborn metal thing still didn't give.

"It must be rusted in place. Haji could you-" Her question was cut off as Dante pushed past them and kicked the door open himself and then dumped the stuff inside.

Saya suppressed a sigh as she followed him inside and looked around.

The outside of the building was the same sand-colored stone as most of the buildings were. But the inside had paneling that, though it wasn't as fancy as the inside of the mansion, distinguished it from the tool sheds and other buildings across the acres of what Joel Goldschmidt, the current Joel's ancestor, had owned.

The floor was carpeted as well, though parts of it had been lost with age and almost all of it had greyed.

Beds, which were un-separated by individual rooms, lay scattered around the extensive space in an unorganized fashion; most likely as a result of the servants scrambling around years earlier when Diva had killed everyone upon her release.

Saya tried not to think too much about that as she picked the one that looked the best preserved and lay down on it.

It didn't take her very long to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Haji, help me with this stuff will ya?" Dante asked out of laziness as opposed to an actual inability to move anything.

He moved without a response over to the radio and its transceiver, placing both on top of a sturdy-looking desk.

The radio wasn't the most aesthetic-looking piece of hardware you could own but looked like it could talk to virtually anyone in the world.

After that he picked up Saya's bag of clothes and other belongings and placed it silently down next to the bed she was sleeping in.

Following this he stood still again.

"Gee, thanks."

"If you did not wish to carry your things, then why did you bring them?" He asked with seemingly-genuine curiosity, despite the hostility it would normally be spoken with.

"Cause…I…" Dante couldn't really think of a comeback so he simply grumbled again and put his stuff next to another bed and started to sit down on it.

"I think perhaps you should choose another bed to rest on." Haji offered silently.

Dante looked up at him, somewhat irritated.

"Why? You want this one for yourself? I've got good taste don't I?" He asked before sitting down.

Seconds later the bed collapsed.

"It does not look particularly sturdy."

Dante pushed the broken wood off him and scrambled to stand up again.

"No kidding."

Dante eyed another bed.

"I don't believe that one would be suitable either."

Dante sighed and then fell back into his broken bed.

"Fine. I'll sleep _here _then."

"It will most likely be uncomfortable sleeping down there."

"No _shit_!"

"Please keep your voice down, Saya is sleeping."

Dante's fists clenched for a few seconds and then he calmed down and sighed.

"So why are you so obsessed with keeping her so comfortable all the time? There's gentlemanliness and then there's just plain servitude man."

"I am Saya's eternal servant and defender."

He looked at Haji for a second and then stared up at the ceiling again.

"What do you mean by that?"

"A long time ago, I had an accident and fell off a cliff. I was dying, and Saya saved me. By receiving her blood I was given eternal life, increased abilities, and I no longer required sleep."

Dante nodded his head, impressed.

Even _he _needed _some _rest.

"Those who are given a Queen's blood directly become that Queen's Chevalier. From that moment on our blood wishes for nothing but to make them happy and keep them safe."

"Queen huh?"

Haji nodded.

"Yes. Saya and Diva are the current Queens of the chiropteran species. They are the only ones who can create Chevaliers, and also the only two who can give birth to the next generation of Queens."

Dante nodded himself.

"So because she gave you her blood now all you can think about is keeping her safe and stuff like that? That's one hell of a binding contract man."

"The desire to help their Queen can be resisted. It is not impossible that a Chevalier may even try to _kill _their Queen. But all Chevaliers, without exception, have a connection with their Queen."

"Wait, you mean the reason Diva can tell where Vergil is..."

Haji nodded again.

"Yes. Vergil is Diva's Chevalier. But he abandoned her and denied his blood-tie."

Dante gave a slight laugh.

"Yeah. We never _did _like to be tied down."

"However, it would seem that Diva has more of a connection with Vergil than she did with anyone else. Of all her Chevaliers, or anyone else for that matter, he is the only one she has ever, to my knowledge, pursued so extensively. Even when he hurt her she did not seem to be upset with him."

Dante bit his lip, wondering what that was about.

"Huh. That's weird. She's got strange taste. _Vergil_? She picked one hell of a person to get obsessed with. Like a seal chasing after a Great White Shark."

"Perhaps they are kindred souls." Haji offered.

Dante only shrugged in response as he flipped up into a standing position.

"I'll be right back, gotta go do something." He spoke while walking towards the door and pulling the dagger Diva had brought to him out from behind his back.

This place was pretty damn big, but he was pretty sure that if Vergil could find the general area he would be able to find _Dante_.

Still, Vergil was jacked up on demon-power-shit enough already.

There was no telling how much power was sealed in this dagger thing, but any amount was too much.

There were several yards of simply empty stone to walk on outside the building Saya had chosen to sleep in, though there was a big-ass tower and other stuff nearby as well.

Holes in both the top of the tower's wall and in the floor of stone outside the building looked like related little occurrences that happened the last time the dear old Rosy-sisters were here.

Finding a suitable place to put the thing, Dante unsheathed the dagger and stabbed it down into the stone up to the hilt.

Almost instantaneously he could feel just how much power was in that little dagger and knew that he _couldn't _let Vergil get it.

The power in the dagger _alone _was stronger than Dante was, even in his demon form.

He stood up again, staring at the rising sun which started to splay across the ground; giving everything a natural shine.

"This should be enough to get you here…" He spoke in a rarely-used serious demeanor.

"You know, I wasn't sure at first. But now I'm glad Saya picked this place. It's a good spot to end things."

His amulet fell down in front of his view and he looked at it.

"Yeah…it's a real good place."

* * *

"_**POWER!! I…FEEL it! That's what I want! So…Enzeru was hiding it hm? A clever little trick. But unfortunately for him Dante's too stupid to use it. He always has been. He's too stupid. It's up to me to get that power. If I don't deserve it, who does? That's just it- no one does!**_"

His gauntleted hand clenched and his mad eyes wandered.

"_**Mine…It will be…**_"


	60. Are we there yet?

Diva had finally reached the pier.

Though it turned out the way she had initially picked was in the _opposite _direction of where the pier was.

Luckily for her, by some freak coincidence she had somehow managed to circle around the whole city and arrived at her destination anyway.

Of course, a teenage girl robbing Wal-Mart, attacking policemen with shopping carts and surfing around town _in _a shopping cart wsn't exactly a thing people stayed quiet about.

Without knowing Diva had quite possibly become the most famous person in the town, for that night anyway.

So now as she walked down a concrete dock with her slightly-busted shopping cart pulled along softly behind her, everyone in the area seemed to be watching.

Though many people might not like having tons of strangers gazing at them when the sun had just barely started to rise and they were all alone, Diva was as happy as one could be.

After all, like a cat, she would act like no one was worth acknowledging but she secretly desired for everyone in the world to pay attention to her.

Looking around, Diva picked the boat which was her favorite combination of big, cute, fancy and fast looking.

After finding it Diva pulled a small map out of the cart and lifted it above her head.

"Hey! Take me here!" She yelled in the boat's direction.

But no one responded.

Maybe it was because there were at least ten more boats in the same area.

She shrugged and took hold of the shopping cart again, leaping over the hundred feet of deep black water that lay between her and the other dock; the one her chosen boat was docked at.

Diva landed just in front of the man who stood at the edge of it, pushing the map into his face.

"There." She told him while picking the cart up and putting it down in the boat.

For some reason everyone seemed shocked.

She didn't know why and really didn't care.

"Come on. Make this move." Diva commanded again impatiently while sitting on one of the bolted-down benches attached to the boat itself.

One of the people standing on the boat finally got the courage to do something other than gape.

Unfortunately for them, it was a mean reaction.

"Listen you bitch! I don't care if you can jump really far or not! We aren't your personal transport service-"

She threw him off the boat and into the water far away, not blinking.

"_You _aren't." Diva spoke, not amused right now.

Seeing her throw that person off the boat seemed to give the others an ability to move and she smiled, satisifed.

They untied the boat from the pier and then ran to the front of the boat or wherever it was that they go to make it move.

Diva pushed her shoes off and lay down on the bench, putting a hand underneath her head to act like a kind of pillow.

She yawned and then drifted off to sleep as the boat roared to life.

* * *

"_**France…**_" It spoke as it landed.

"_**This is where the power is…I feel it…**_"

The power was not nearby, but that was fine.

The longer it took to find what it wanted, the more satisfying it would be when it got it.

"_**Daaaante…Where aaare you?**_" It spoke, holding back hysteric laughter.

* * *

"Hiyyyya!" Dante yelled melodramatically as he thrust Cerberus into the ground, forming a small mountain of ice in front of him.

He grinned menacingly as he put the faithful weapon behind him.

"With _this _power…" He spoke while reaching for the most crucial battle element of all.

"My beer will last _forever_! Mwahahahaha!" He laughed while jamming the six pack firmly in the ice.

Had Dante been paying attention he would haven noticed Haji examining what was going on, and then quietly withdrawing back into the building.

After he was finished laughing in a most evil way, Dante reached for a can, almost tasting the-

A high-powered bullet bit through the ice and blew the beer up in his face as he reached for it, sending multiple cans skyrocketing up from the pressure coming out of them.

Dante simply stared forward with a dead expression as he was repeatedly sprayed with more and more beer.

When the stream stopped and Dante was able to think again he glared at where he estimated Lady, she shooter, was.

"Hey! What the fu-" He was again cut off, though this time it was because the rocket-cans had fallen back to earth; and landed on his head.

He looked around at the remnants of his once-proud beer and felt himself start to cry.

"Have you no heart?!" Dante declared melodramatically while falling to his knees.

"Stop fooling around!" She yelled back at him.

After a few seconds Dante sighed before standing up again.

"Fine. You want to make this all serious and boring? Okay then. Screw you guys, _I_ am _goin_g to sleep."

The silver-haired half-demon walked back to the building that Saya and Haji were in and opened the door…seeing blood come from Haji's usually-cloth-covered hand, dripping into the sleeping Saya's mouth.

"Hey, uh…What're you…" He trailed off.

Wherever the blood had come from healed itself and the flow stopped.

Haji wrapped his hand again and then stood up.

"Saya needs blood if she is to be strong. But she does not always accept my offer to give her some of mine. So I decided to give her it now."

Dante nodded strangely as he walked into the room.

"So all that you supposedly do is follow her wishes, whether it is what you actually want to do or not…and now, even though she probably wouldn't like it, you're giving her your blood anyway."

Haji's face didn't change.

"Yes."

Dante laughed a bit, though he kept the volume down to keep from waking her up.

"I'm not sure about this, but it seems that you've contracted the fatal illness of free will."

Haji continued standing there, unmoving.

His audience not laughing or even smiling, Dante dismissed it as a case of Haji having no sense of humor and lay down in his broken, uncomfortable bed.

"You just don't know humor. That's all."

There were a few minutes of silence after Dante closed his eyes.

Then, quietly, Haji's voice spoke up.

"Why is it that the chicken chose to cross the road?"

* * *

I know it's short but I'll update soon. It turns out "The Zoo" was not in Vietnam, it was in or around France. I changed the mentions of Vietnam, but everything within the story remains the same, regardless of where it was located. Also, I know Dante's a bit too whacky in this story and that he's a bit out of character but I suppose that's just the way I write him.


	61. Beginning of the end

"Ah!" Diva declared as she spotted a large stone house up the road.

It had taken forever for the boat to reach where she'd wanted to go, and even then she still really had no idea of which way to head.

After she did some snacking on the boat and left with her trusty shopping-cart, Diva walked for what felt like hours down a road, not even knowing where it went.

It led her through fields and forest, over bridges and rivers, and, eventually to this house.

The road, now little more than a dirt path, continued on past the house but she decided it was time for a rest.

If _she _had a problem finding the place, then it would take Vergil _forever_ to find it.

She remembered the way the air around here smelled though, and knew that at least she was relatively close.

"Wait a minute…" She spoke, stopping momentarily to look at the building.

Diva frowned out of thought and then left her cart at the side of the road, continuing on to walk towards the large stone building.

It definitely wasn't part of "The Zoo" since the stone that made it up was not the exotic sandy color that its buildings were, but instead a shade of easy-going grey.

Also, it wasn't really house-looking as much as it seemed like some kind of…business place.

That's what Diva decided as she perused the grounds of the building, eventually coming to a coutryard-like area that was "inside" the building.

"Can I help you?" Someone asked her from behind.

Diva turned to face him and saw an older, balding man with a moustache standing in a doorway, looking at her.

He didn't seem to understand why she was here, but wasn't exactly offensive either.

"I'm looking for a place." She stated somewhat dumbly.

He nodded a bit to himself as he walked over to her.

"I recognized this." Diva spoke while drawing an imaginary frame with her hands, like she was taking her own picture.

"It looked like this. I've seen this on something before."

The man looked at what she was peering at and seemed to understand what she meant.

"Ah, you must have seen this on a wine bottle! This is château duel; a vineyard."

Diva bit her thumb a bit, looking at the building again.

"There was another place though. That's where I'm going. But it said that thing you just said on the label."

He seemed somewhat surprised but lightly hit one hand with the other, remembering something.

"Come to think of it, there was a pair who came here wondering about something very similar; a man and a girl about your age. She noticed that the picture on the label was not of this château, but of the one we originated in."

Diva turned to him, exuberantly interested.

"You know where it is?!" She almost yelled as she got unnaturally close to him.

"Um, yes."

He backed away and turned around, pointing over an extensive set of hills.

"On the other side of those hills. It's a pretty big property though; you may have to walk quite a while before you reach the building you are looking for."

Diva nodded, too excited now to pay attention anymore.

"But you might not want to go there now. It will be dark before you get there."

She kept walking.

"There is a legend that when you go there at nighttime you will hear a young girl singing."

Diva stopped and turned back towards him, smiling again.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Yes, and one night on a dare my father went to the ruins of that place and heard the singing himself. He was lulled closer and closer to the singer's voice, though he was otherwise paralyzed. Then, when he reached where the song began he saw a beautiful young girl holding a blue rose."

Diva examined the man more thoroughly.

"Oh yeah, I remember someone who looked like you." She spoke whimsically before turning away again.

"Uh…what?" He stumbled out as she kept walking.

Diva waved over her shoulder as she started to run back to the cart.

"Bye!"

* * *

"How long is it going to take for them to _get _here already?!" Dante yelled in frustration.

"Is it not a good thing that we have more time to prepare?" Haji asked silently.

Dante sighed as he started to leave the building.

"You know what, Haji? You've just got no sense of fun. That's all." He spoke as he stopped in the doorway.

This was getting too boring; there wasn't anyone to fight, no beer, no TV, no music, no _nothing_.

"Would you like to play musical chairs?" Haji asked him softly from back in the building.

Dante eyed him suspiciously.

"You know, you're lucky you came from a different time. Otherwise I'd think you were... well you know. With the 'musical chairs' and all."

Haji simply stood there, as silent as he usually was.

Dante sighed again.

"And with Lady camping out who-knows-where there's no one to get into an argument with. This is so booooriiing!!" He spoke loudly.

"Saya is trying to-"

Dante waved off Haji's oftspoken sentence.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Saya is trying to sleep. Please keep your voice down'." He spoke in a severely bad imitation of Haji.

Though you'd have to be _mute_ for _years_ to be able to sound as quiet and statue-esque to sound like him.

"Wait…"

Haji wasn't the only thing that was being quiet.

The birds had stopped singing, the crickets had stopped chirping, and-

"Hold on a second. There weren't any birds or crickets to _begin _with. That's just a cliché."

Still, it was too quiet.

And everything just felt…dead.

The only ambient sound that remained was the water rushing down in that hole outside.

"Is something the matter?" Haji asked quietly.

Dante waited a few seconds until he was sure before responding.

"Yeah…Wake Saya up."


	62. Hell's prelude

"_**Dante!... Daaante!!"**_

**Where was he?! Where was Dante?!**

**"**_**Dante! Come out!"**_

**The only things it had encountered that it could crush were trees, and that wasn't any fun at all.**

_**"Where are you hiding?!"**_

**Always hiding, always running away. **

**He should come out and die.**

**He should.**

**Yes, he should**

**"**_**Die, Dante!"**_

**It vaguely noticed that the trees were no longer in the way.**

**Nothing was in the way; there was large emptiness.**

**It wanted something to hit; something to **_**kill**_**.**

_**"Dante!!"**_

**The world wasn't making noise anymore.**

**It didn't hear the air, rain, thunder, or anything else; it was if everything had been drowned out by its rage.**

_**"Where are you?! Dante!!"**_

**Then it heard something with crystal-clear clarity.**

**A cocky voice that it wouldn't forget until it died, if that ever happened.**

"Gee, you get retarded with all that demon shit? 'Dante!', 'Dante!'. That's all you've got to say huh? Come on, big man. Come get me."

**It roared in anger while increasing in speed, heading towards the voice.**

**"**Marco."

**Shut up.**

"Marco!"

**Shut up!**

"Hey, what's taking so long? Marco-"

**It reached where it was supposed to be.**

_**"Polo." **_**It spoke with a sneer.**

* * *

"Now then, isn't that better?" He asked the thing that now didn't even resemble a human being.

His brother, or what once was, now stood taller than Dante at seven feet tall and stared at him with eyes that seemed to either not know what they gazed at or didn't care.

Its body was humanoid, but had no skin; instead it was like one huge suit of glowing armor.

There were neon-colored veins that ran throughout the body, appearing in the openings from one piece of armor to the next.

The head was now fully covered in a helm with withered ram-like horns sticking out the front.

Though Vergil's voice could still be heard, it was all but drowned out by a spectral-like voice that seemed like an audible metaphor for how much Vergil had been taken over by his inner demon.

"So, how's this going to go? We fight, one of us loses, the other one keeps going on and does whatever they want? Same idea as usual?"

"Vergil" gave an amused scoff.

_**"No…" **_It spoke as it reached behind its back.

_**"I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to take that power." **_

Then it pulled a ridiculously large sword out from behind its back; the weapon wider than a human head and as long as a full-grown man.

Dante couldn't tell if it was a mutated form of Yamato or if it was a completely different sword in its own right.

"Is that so?" Dante asked while reaching over his shoulder and pulling Rebellion slowly out of its sheath, eventually pointing it at his fallen brother."

"Well, if I recall, I _won _last time."

The thing emitted a laugh which, though it had no catalyst, sounded sadistic.

_**"You beat **_**Vergil**_**. I…am Nero Angelo. **__**You couldn't even harm me if you were ten times stronger than you were the last time. Even then, you'd just be a warm-up."**_

Dante gave a mocking laugh himself.

"Really? Well we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

He could have sworn the helmet's etched mouth moved upwards slightly.

_**"Yes. We will."**_

* * *

I know it was short, but it's the prelude to the last battle(however long that may be). I'm not sure when I'll update next, but I'll try to make it as soon as possible.


	63. Sibling showdown, act one

Dante didn't even have time to block or dodge when "Nero Angelo's" first attack came.

One moment he was standing there, and the next Dante felt someone behind him and a gash across his chest.

"He's fast!" Was all Dante thought as he whipped around, swinging Rebellion at the demon to make him jump away.

But instead of avoiding the attack, Nero Angelo simply stuck out a hand and blocked the blade.

Dante gaped in surprise, quite possibly the first time in his life, as the demon took hold of his sword and flung him yards and yards away; sending him skidding across the stone ground until he finally managed to get up.

Despite the edge his enemy had, Dante still hadn't lost any of his confidence; or maybe he was just trying to maintain his cool out of necessity.

Either way Dante gave a quick laugh as he rose.

"Heh, not bad. But it'll take a helluva a lot more than that to put me down."

The helmet it had for a head rose, as opposed to an eyebrow of a human.

"_**Is that so? If I recall, you just got **_**up **_**from being put down.**_"

Dante smirked.

"A bit playful today are we? Okay then…"

He sheathed Rebellion on his back, but held onto its hilt, and grabbed Force Edge with his other hand.

"Let's see how you handle _this_ "Nerdo I am jello" or whatever the hell you called yourself."

Then he sent Rebellion towards the dark knight in a "sword pierce" and followed that up with a "Round Trip" by Force Edge right afterwards.

Dante didn't even wait to see if the attacks hit before he ran towards the corrupted half-demon and pulled Cerberus from behind his coat; throwing _that _at his enemy too.

Dante stamped a boot out and stopped himself as he focused on what had happened.

Surprisingly, all three attacks had hit and were stuck in Nero Angelo's armor; Rebellion and Force Edge impaled in the breastplate and Cerberus frozen to the helm.

But his opponent didn't seem to show any signs of having been hurt.

"Does that mean the armor _isn't _part of his body?"

Of course, for all he knew "Vergil" could just be denying the pain to reach him.

Deciding it didn't matter, Dante pushed off the ground and started running forward again.

"Well a drop-kick to head might get a little bit of reaction." He thought while getting ready to jump.

Just as his feet left the ground, however, Dante's weapons were sent flying towards him; business-end first.

He didn't have any time to dodge the weapons; as he was a hell of a lot less mobile in the air than he would have been if he were on the ground.

So instead Dante grabbed one of the three extensions on Cerberus and swung it so that the other two hit the hilts of both Rebellion and Force Edge and froze to them.

In this way Dante now had a huge scythe-like flail with his hand swinging the weapon on one end and his two swords attached on the others.

Using his superhuman-speed Dante soon became a half-human ice-tornado with swords spinning around him and slicing everything around him into little pieces.

Even his seemingly-invincible enemy couldn't face this attack head-on and had to escape from it.

Dante grinned, though no one could actually see it; he knew that the advantage was finally his.

But there was one part of this he hadn't considered; this was making him _real _goddamn dizzy.

A human being would have probably thrown up their inner organs by this point so it made sense that he was starting to feel a bit queasy.

Eventually Dante just couldn't keep it up anymore and stopped himself with a shaky stamp into the ground.

Though that little tornado move was a pretty good idea and had made him momentarilly untouchable, it would have been far worse if he'd used it until he started getting really sick.

He may not have an advantage anymore, but it was a hell of a lot better than being stuck throwing his guts up later.

Nero Angelo was already on the move again and heading towards Dante; the blade of the sword pointed at him.

Still needing time to catch his breath, Dante desperately threw Cerberus and the two swords attached to it at his now-cheap and dishonaorable enemy.

But it didn't buy him much time as all Angelo had to do to dodge the attack was block with his sword and swipe the offending object away.

"Shit. What am I gonna do?" He thought while scrolling through the limited options he had in his head.

Ebony & Ivory wouldn't do jack to an enemy this powerful and he doubted even one of his haymaker-punches would do anything right now with all that super-steroid demon go-go juice running through that armor.

Just as the massive sword started to rise though there was a loud bang and the sword was knocked, if only for a second, from Nero Angelo's grip.

He caught it before it fell a single centimeter but a string of shots started to follow and he had to focus on the sniper, Lady, for a few seconds.

After a bit of searching for her more than defending himself from her shots, the demon-knight's eyes glared and he brought up a hand which was soon engulfed in blue and white flame.

With a grunt of effort the unnaturally-powerful fireball shot towards where Lady had taken up her position and he heard a building collapsing in the distance.

Before Angelo even had time to turn away though, Saya came running at him, unsheathing her sword, and struck out at him.

Angelo easily blocked, only holding the sword with one hand, and didn't even seem to be putting any effort into holding her back.

Despite this, a bead of sweat was already forming on Saya's forehead and she glanced over to Dante.

"What are you waiting for?! Get away!"

He nodded and dove away toward his weapons.

In the time it took for Dante to go through the air and land near the weapon-trio Angelo had knocked Saya away and teleported over in front of him; standing on the weapons his hand was just starting to reach out for.

Angelo swung the massive blade at Dante as he landed and would have bisected the half-demon had he not brought out Ebony & Ivory to block the strike.

"_**How quickly you've lost, and with **_**help**_**. You really have gotten weak haven't you?**_"

Dante scoffed as he pushed harder against the sword.

"Who's the one that said they were going to kill me instantly? You haven't been trying to kill me; you've been trying to _fight _me. Who does that sound like? Someone other who you're claiming to be. That's for damn sure."

He was sure whatever face there was inside that helm scowled as the sword snapped to a different position, aiming the blunt side at him now, and knocked him away.

Dante lost his grip on Ebony & Ivory as he sailed through the air and slammed through the walls of the building they'd stayed in the nights before.

"Dante!" He heard Saya shout after him with a worried tone.

The dust that had been on the walls was mixed with the smoke as it cleared and the inside of the building was revealed.

Shining lines which were soon distinguished as part of the gauntlets and greaves known as Beowulf could be seen glistening inside and the red and blue colors of strange swords with voodoo-like heads, Agni & Rudra, were on his back.

To his right was the now-broken box that he had stored them in.

Dante grinned falmboyantly as he brought himself into a stance.

"Now…hows about round two?"

* * *

I know that considering how long it took for me to update this isn't exactly a satisfactorily-long chapter but it seemed like a good place to stop for now. Also, Demondog666 I'm not sure what you meant by pairing Diva up with Dante but if you manage to tell me what you meant before I put up another chapter(which I'm not sure when it will be) I'll try my best to do so.


	64. Sibling showdown, act two

* * *

"Now, where were we?" Dante asked confidently as the rubble and dust cleared.

Nero Angelo stared at his fists with interest but with a noticeable absence of being intimidated.

"_**Beowulf**_." He spoke as if trying to subtly remind himself.

"You remember huh? You killed a demon and then took its power for yourself. After we fought the second time at that tower you dropped 'em and now they're mine."

"_**Am I supposed to be jealous?**_" It asked, not amused.

Dante flicked the tip of his nose with his thumb and then dashed forward.

"No, you're supposed to lose!" He yelled while punching forward, landing a straight right in the "chin" of the helm.

But like before it didn't seem hurt.

"Damn! What'll it take to _hurt_ him?!" Dante thought angrily.

"_**You're wondering why nothing you do can hurt me."**_ It stated what he was thinking.

"_**It's because you walk the path of humans; the path of the weakling. I however…**_" It spoke while bringing back its free hand and then stabbing it forward.

Dante dodged the blow but before he could give a snappy comment Nero Angelo's other fist punched him and sent him skidding across the ground.

"**_A human cannot kill a demon. Not a _true_ demon._**" It declared melodramatically.

Dante scoffed and then devil-triggered.

"Your point being? Don't forget, I come from the same blood as you do. And the 'path of the humans' is the path that I, the guy who kicked your ass, walks!"

He jumped up into the air and kicked across the area down at Nero Angelo, who dodged the attack.

Though Dante had wanted the attack to hit it was really just to see if he could hurt his enemy now. If Angelo hadn't dodged his attack it would have most likely been because he still couldn't do any damage.

"But he did, so I can." Dante thought with a grin as he landed and started jabbing at Nero Angelo's head and torso.

For a minute it looked like a freak-show version of a famous boxing match where no one was winning, but when Dante began mixing it up with some kicks the scores started to turn in his favor.

"Too bad we're only at round two, otherwise I might win by decision." Dante thought, a bit amused.

Nero Angelo continued dodging his attacks but when he was about to attack himself Haji's cello case flew down and the two were separated.

But before Dante could think "what the hell is he doing" Haji swiped his claw at Nero Angelo, causing him to dodge again, but this time without as much finesse.

A strange-looking light could be seen in the distance before a demonically-charged bullet hit Angelo's helm and caused him to stumble for a second; just long enough for Saya to get behind him and hit his legs out from under him with her sword and knock him to the ground.

"Looks like these people who 'walk the path of humans' are kicking your ass _this _time too, huh?" Dante added smartly to his fallen opponent.

Of course knocking him down didn't mean the fight was theirs, but it _did _mean that they could _hurt _him. And as Arnold said in "Predator" "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

Dante didn't see any blood. However, he did see his opponent on its ass, and that was more than enough proof for him that they could win.

Angelo scoffed.

"_**Enough ants can kill a Lion. It only makes sense that such inferior creatures would attack me in numbers.**_"

It got up into a crouch as Haji again threw his cello case at it again.

However, this time Nero Angelo simply cut the case in half and let it sail harmlessly past him; the cello pieces flying out of the case since it was now "open".

Haji gazed at his broken cello, one of the bigger pieces anyway.

"Oh get over it. What're you doing throwing a case with a musical instrument in it around at people anyway? It's a friggin' miracle it lasted _this _long."

Dante launched a zodiac; a blast of white light, at Nero Angelo to make him jump back.

Instead he simply _stepped _back, but it was enough of a movement for Dante.

He lunged forward and drop-kicked Nero Angelo's helm, knocking the demon knight away.

Saya once again tried to knock him down but Nero Angelo back-flipped over the blade and landed behind her.

She thrust a foot into the ground and then whipped around, swinging at Angelo to make him back up. But unexpectedly he blocked instead of avoiding the attack and then slid his sword along hers until it turned into an attack of its own and almost decapitated Saya, who just barely managed to roll out of the way.

Dante and Haji were both running at Nero Angelo again but he knew that they wouldn't be able to get him unless they were really fast.

"Or…"

With that thought Dante pulled Agni & Rudra from his back and threw them at Nero Angelo.

He turned sideways and dodged them both by a hair's width but instead of scowling at how his attacks had "missed" Dante grinned at how he'd been right.

His opponent noticed this but started towards him- only to realize that the twin swords had impaled themselves through the cape attached to its armor and into the stone ground.

"Ha! Knew it! You're always just barely avoiding attacks to show off! But it worked against ya _this _time! Haji, give me your hand."

"I'm sorry. I don't play that string."

Dante rolled his eyes and grabbed Haji's hand as they ran towards Nero Angelo, who was still trying to free himself from the aggravating twin swords who had just started talking.

"Look, brother! It's the preparation for that technique we saw on the electric tube!"

"I see that!"

"We must distract our enemy until then."

"You're right! We should helpful weapons!"

"Hm. What we should we do?"

"How do I know? We need to come up with something!"

Nero Angelo was now pulling at the weapons harder, quite possibly to get rid of the jabbering brothers more than to be able to avoid Haji and Dante's incoming attack.

"Brother, our guest is…_straining_."

"Strain?…What is…strain?"

"Well a strain is when."

"_**Silence you jabbering buffoons!**_"

Just as Nero Angelo finished his angry yell he turned and saw Haji and Dante's outstretched arms.

A second later he was close-lined and once again knocked the ground. However, this time the helm had been cracked in the process and the sword was knocked from his hands and spun a few feet away, impaling itself in a stone wall nearby.

Saya was already there with her sword raised, the tip of the blade pointing at the helm.

Though this was the time Dante would be giving a smart-ass comment, it was her, so she yelled and stabbed down with all her strength.

However, as the attack was about to hit a tall over-sized tree was flung at her and she had to make a desperate dive to avoid its path.

Everyone stared at where the tree had been thrown with a surprised expression except for Nero Angelo, who had simply looked at the corner of his vision.

"No fair. He gets to play with _everyone_." A childish complaint came from the forest before a pale teenage-looking girl with blue eyes and long black hair came out of the forest.

She was wearing a blue dress with white trimming as opposed to the previous dresses which had all been white with blue trim.

The girl, Diva, pulled a brand-new-looking sword from its sheath and then threw the sheath away, back into the forest.

She'd had a slightly-scowling frown but it turned up into her less pronounced but equally-satisfied grin.

"Come on, let's play together."

* * *

I know it's been a while and it wasn't that long but hey, a chapter's a chapter.


	65. Tragic Girl's Finale

They gazed at the newly-arrived enemy and chances are all of them thought some form of "ah, shit".

Saya knew that they could defeat Diva on her own if all four of them could concentrate on her, but the problem was that they'd had a difficult time even _hurting_ Nero Angelo, and now they had to contend with an enemy as strong as _Diva_.

"And, most importantly, I can't _kill_ Diva." She thought morbidly.

Since Diva healed so fast, anything that didn't kill her wouldn't stop her for very long.

"There's no way we can beat both of them. Not like this." She thought while scanning the area desperately for a way to lead Diva out of the current fight.

"Come on, think! There has to be _something _I can do or somewhere I can _go _to get her out of this!"

Saya used to live here; maybe if she tried hard to remember it would be possible…

Then she remembered what had happened the last time she was here.

Diva had thrown her out of the tower and down to the ground below, which collapsed and trapped her down in the sewers…

"That's it!"

Saya ran towards the ice-crystal that one of Dante's weapons had formed above the entrance, knowing Diva was chasing after her.

As she passed Haji, Saya told him to stay and help Dante. There wasn't enough time for him to respond but she knew he would do as she'd asked.

Diva caught up with her and Saya dove for the ground to avoid the slash her sister threw at her.

She was lucky she _had _too; the attack had gone all the way through part of the ice-crystal before Diva turned back towards her.

"How am I going to break that thing?" She thought to herself.

It was obvious that Diva could destroy the whole thing herself but that would take too long and as oblivious as she often seemed to be Saya was sure Diva would catch on to what she was attempting to do.

Her eyes once again scanned the area but this time fell upon a chimney from one of the broken building. It looked strange, extending at least fifteen feet up into the air and attached to one wall and a pile of rubble that used to be one.

In any case, it was just what she needed.

Saya kept her eyes focused on Diva as she ran to the side towards the chimney with her sister following.

Using the muscles in her legs that she'd developed while bar-jumping in Okinawa, Saya managed to get up a ways onto the chimney and stay there.

Diva was still a few feet away but Saya knew she didn't have a lot of time left so she got ready to move and tightened her grip on the old stone chimney.

Her sister jumped up and swung at her, severing the chimney from its perch and sending bits of stone and dust flying through the air.

She'd avoided the attack by climbing higher up the chimney but the temporary safehaven had been lost as the tall square spire tilted and fell down towards the ground; towards the ice.

At the last second Saya jumped off the chimney and hit the ground rolling with her head tucked in.

She heard as well as felt the chimney collide with the ground nearby; shattering the ice that had blocked entrance to the hole to the sewer.

Not wasting any time, Saya crawled a foot or two before diving into the deep hole. She fell at least a few dozen feet before crashing into the murky water that still traveled through the ancient sewer.

Apparently something was different this time around because there was a lot more water down there than there had been before; the filthy wetness being at least ankle high, and that was only at the area that she was in now.

"Though I suppose I should just be grateful there was something to land on or in other than rock." Saya told herself while pushing up out of the water and backing away from the place where Diva would come down.

Diva would definitely follow her, there was no doubt about that. But the sooner she did the sooner Saya could be sure that Dante and Haji would only have Nero Angelo to contend with.

"And the sooner we can finish our _own _fight." She thought solemnly.

She cared about Dante's situation but this was more important to her than that.

This really wasn't about saving the world or helping anyone in it.

Saya knew Dante felt the same way.

This battle was a sibling showdown; a fight between the twins.

Nothing else mattered.

Saya heard Diva say "Ready or not, here I come", foreshadowing her descent and prepared herself.

"I can't kill her. But maybe if I can make her lose enough blood I can immobilize her."

At that thought Saya wondered if it was possible for one of them to die if they lost enough blood or sustained enough damage. It was a long shot, but it was better than no chance at all.

Something crashed down into the water and she backed up a few inches, waiting.

A second later her sister virtually _flew_ through the water towards her, sword ready.

"I _have _to win."

* * *

"_**Your little "band" has lost one of its members.**_" Nero Angelo stated as he rose, a few small chips falling from his helm.

Dante grinned and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, and your _duo's _been ended."

Angelo scoffed while walking over to pick up his sword.

"**Me**_**? Ally myself with **_**that**_**? Don't make me laugh. She's nothing but a memory from a past life.**_"

Dante brushed the cold remark off.

"Just a memory huh? _She_ doesn't seem to think so. The only thing that little girl's thought about since the minute I saw her is getting back to you. Not to mention she's probably the reason you haven't been _killed _yet. In fact, if she hadn't thrown that tree you would've had a third eye right _now_."

"_**As if such a pathetic blade could ever hurt me.**_"

Haji stepped up to Dante's side, perhaps waiting for him to order a "strategy" or something.

Dante's eyebrows rose momentarilly in an amusing way.

"Knocked you on your ass. _Twice _in fact. And… if she puts her blood on the blade it kills anyone who has even the tiniest bit of _Diva's_ in it."

Nero Angelo's eyes widened slightly.

"_**That's a pretty big bluff. Though then again you never **_**were **_**any good at trying to fool your opponent.**_"

Dante looked at Haji and then looked to Nero Angelo's left, hoping his silent partner had taken the sign.

"_**Anyway, what is it that makes you think I have any of that disgusting girl's blood in my body?**_" He asked, feigning amusement.

Dante stepped a bit to the left and got ready.

"She told us that you were her 'Chevalier'. You should be thankful. That's a pretty cool title. Sha-vah-lee-ay. Gotta hand it to the French; they make some pretty cool-ass words."

"_**You never **_**will **_**grow up, will you Dante?**_"

He grinned.

"Hey, that doesn't sound like the dickhead demon knight we all know and love."

Angelo stepped forward.

"_**Enough babbling. I'm tired of dragging this on.**_"

"Got _that_ right." Dante spoke under his breath before pushing off the ground and jumping over to Nero Angelo's right side.

Haji, having apparently understood Dante's sign earlier, lunged over to the left side and sliced at their enemy with his right hand.

Nero Angelo hopped back a few feet and swung the ridiculously-long sword at them, ripping his cape on the twin swords in the process of backing away.

They had to back up a bit to keep from getting bisected.

"Look, brother! Our enemy has broken _free_!"

"I see that! Quickly Dante! You must take hold of us immediately and-"

The silver-haired man cut it off by kicking the sword towards Angelo before pulling the other one out of the ground and flinging _it_ at his enemy as well.

Though the dark knight managed to block both swords with his own it left an opening for Haji to once again lunge over to him and attack with his Chiropteran-hand.

This time the attack was aimed at the already-cracked helm.

The attack landed as planned and another part of armor came off; though this time it was one of the horns as opposed to the face area.

Having already knocked Agni & Rudra to the ground he now had enough time to swing at Haji. However, the silent man had already moved out of range and retreated back to Dante's side.

The two of them didn't make a half-bad team.

Dante laughed and pointed to Nero Angelo's head which now only had a single horn and on one side.

"You look _stupid _man! Haji, doesn't he look stupid?!" Dante asked his "partner-in-crime" while bent over laughing.

Haji looked at him and then back at Nero Angelo.

"Yes." He responded in a complying but not humorous answer.

"_**If it bothers you so much…**_" Their unamused enemy spoke while raising a hand to take hold of the horn and snapping it off.

Then he flipped the sharp "decoration" in his hand and threw it at them, pinning Haji's foot to the ground.

_Dante's _foot hurt just looking at the ugly thing sticking out of Haji's now-bleeding shoe but the ever-quiet guy gave no indication that he was in pain while grabbing it and trying to yank the thing free.

As Dante rose his head to look at their enemy again though he realized it had simply been a successful attempt at distracting them.

Angelo swung his sword at Dante, who blocked but was still knocked away, and then whacked Haji in the head with the blunt side and sent him flying through the air to crash into the ground several yards away, not getting up.

"_**Now it's just you and me.**_"

Suddenly a missile shot from somewhere nearby at the demon-knight.

He sliced the projectile in half, but it blew up in his face, sending more shards of the helm flying away; exposing a small amount of the wearer's white hair in the back.

Which meant that the armor _wasn't _a part of his body, or at least not internally; kind of like a second skin in a way. Ornate _armored _skin, but skin nonetheless.

Then a purplish bolt shot towards him from the same location, scattering into dozens of sparks which flew off in all directions before colliding in the center; him.

A few more chips of armor fell off as the sparks kept flying and Lady appeared from behind the cover she'd been in.

"And _me_."

Dante regarded Lady as a helpful but somewhat unwanted guest.

"Lady, you really shouldn't have come out like this." He mumbled.

Unfortunately for him she'd heard that.

"Hey! I just saved your ass!"

Dante rolled his eyes.

"What's it like to live in that imaginary world of yours? Is there pizza and hot chicks?"

It was _her _turn to roll her eyes.

"Anyway, Saya could use your help more than me."

Lady looked around, not seeing her.

"Hey, where'd she go?"

Dante nodded his head towards the hole in the ground a few yards away.

"She led Diva down there so she wouldn't fight against us."

"And you want me to go down there with super fang-girl? I still have the _teeth marks _from _last _time!"

He momentarily forgot about his and Nero Angelo's life-or-death battle and glared at her.

"You'll face ultra demon-evil-knight-hell-guy-thing but you won't face a teenager with some inch-and-a-half-long _canines_?! What the hell?!"

"She's _creepy _okay?! That freakish smile of hers while she's like attacking someone is more than enough to make me inch away!"

Dante pointed at the hole.

"Get your ass down in that sewer or dungeon or whatever the hell it is or I'll throw ya down there myself!"

"_**Are you done chattering now? I really **_**do **_**have more important things to do right now than listen to you two prattle on.**_" Nero Angelo spoke, not seeming hurt in the least as he emerged from the cloud of purple electricity.

Dante sighed and faced their enemy again.

"Just do it for me, okay?" He asked Lady with a serious tone.

She looked away and stood still for a second and then nodded and ran towards the hole.

"Now then, let's get back to business."

* * *

Things were not going well for Saya.

Now that her blood no longer killed Diva she'd lost the edge or at least the thing that made them a bit more equal fighters.

In addition, with Diva in top condition and Saya, as always, only having drank enough blood to keep her in a decent state, their abilities were far from equal.

Though the relatively small size of the sewers helped lessen her advantage, Diva was easily the stronger and more able fighter in this battle.

Saya stabbed out with her sword to put some space between them but Diva hopped over her strike as opposed to backing off and sliced through the top of her right shoulder and landed behind her.

It was only a flesh wound, but Saya knew that Diva was just playing with her for now.

Though to Diva, even when she was fighting _seriously _it was probably just a game to her.

Saya turned around and swung her sword upwards at Diva, since there wasn't enough room to try a horizontal attack.

Diva twisted away and continued moving until they were back-to-back and nudged her sister away playfully, who stumbled away and turned around quickly, stabbing at Diva haphazardly while regaining her balance.

Once again her little sister dodged the attack, this time jumping out of the way and flicking Saya on the back of the head as she passed; sending her face down into the water.

"Why even _bother _Saya? I win, you lose." She spoke as Saya pushed her way out of the dirty water.

"You've always had such a simple view on things." She spoke derisively while regaining her focus.

Diva lost her smile.

"What's that?"

Saya faced her sister again.

"I didn't bring you down her just so we could fight."

Diva looked confused for a second before her eyes started to widen in realization.

"Vergil!" She spoke with a tone of worry Saya had never heard her with before.

Diva turned away from her, starting to run back down the tunnel, despite the fact that she wouldn't be able to ascend such a high place with no walls to jump on.

Regardless, something fired from far away and flew towards Diva, who still had enough awareness to dodge the attack.

But the second she did the revealed-to-be missile exploded and sent her flying back towards Saya, falling into the water for the first time in the fight.

As she bolted out of the water cuts all over her body, having lost all traces of her easy-going personality for a while, the ceiling where the missile had detonated fell in on itself and blocked off the path back to the hole in the ceiling.

"Why you!…" Diva ran towards the rubble, probably intent on cutting the offensive stone blocks to tiny pieces so they would be out of her way.

But Saya wasn't going to let that happen and ran after her sister.

She reached Diva just as _she _reached the "barricade" and sliced at her seemingly-unsuspecting enemy.

However, Diva wasn't as oblivious battle-wise as she was with everything else and dropped her sword, grabbed Saya's hands clutching her own sword and threw her into the natural wall that was in the way before then tossing her back down the tunnel.

The second she turned back towards the "wall" though a bullet sailed through the hole that she had just made into it and ripped through her chest, sending a gout of blood out through her back.

Diva ignored it and she started beating against the rocks with her hands as another bullet shot through her, this time going through her stomach.

She was pushed back a bit by the force of the bullet but didn't stop attacking the wall for a second.

Her wounds bled but Diva didn't acknowledge them.

Larger and more powerful bullets shot through her body again and again, forming actual craters in her body for a few moments and ripping her dress into shreds. But even though blood started dripping form her mouth Diva never stopped beating on the wall.

"Get out of my way! Let me go to him! Leave me alone!" She screamed in a desperate panic.

But the attacks didn't stop and when the more powerful guns ran out of bullets ran out Lady started using automatic weapons.

Diva was forced back a few feet by the shear force of the hundreds of bullets that tore through her now-weak body but persevered even as her body started to heal the wounds slower and slower.

Her hands no longer moved the stone though.

The walls didn't quake with tremors either.

Diva was, as far as strength goes, only human now.

But though her _body _had given up, Diva's _mind _hadn't and she kept ripping at the stones, pulling a few free only to reveal another hole to get shot from.

"Stop." She spoke with a gurgle as blood pushed its way in force up her throat.

"I…I have to go to him! Please! Stop getting in my way!" She yelled in a shrill voice while struggling to stand up.

"He _needs _me! And…"

She fell against the wall, unable to move again.

"I…" Her body started to fall apart and was just barely pulled back together by its last streins of strength.

Diva slid down the wall, leaving a large trail of blood as she did so, her wounds no longer healing.

"I need_ him_. I want to be with him… I want…I want to..."

Her body began quivering, going through an unbearable struggle just to keep her from coming apart.

Her eyes started to close and fade but Diva, in a last effort, lunged at the opening she'd torn in the wall.

Another shot rang out and Diva was hit back through the hole as the wall finally came down and crashed into the water with her, Diva wasn't getting up.

The bullet floated to the surface of the water for some reason, as had the others.

But Diva remained submerged in the water, her eyes closed and her body not moving.

Things that were intended from the start of their creation to kill or harm other living beings were allowed to come back up but Diva, as always, wasn't allowed to. The water held her in a everlasting tomb, never letting go.

Saya looked on, not able to believe her eyes.

For some reason, she could see the bullet-hole in her sister's chest.

The last bullet had gone through her heart.


	66. Mad Man's Hellish Spotlight

"Damn it! What does it take to wear him _down_?!" Dante thought angrily as he was once again knocked away after punching at his enemy.

Haji still hadn't gotten back into the fight, though he seemed to slowly be regaining consciousness.

"If I can just hold out till then…" He thought before mentally smacking himself upside the head.

"Then what? Then the _both _of us can get swatted around? Yeah, we'll have him on the _ropes_ with the 'hit his sword with our necks' strategy." He grumbled to himself inside his head.

Saya and Lady still hadn't come up and after all that gunfire he'd heard Dante was starting to worry that they'd been killed.

But he didn't have time to think about that. If they _weren't _dead it would probably be a welcome sight for there to be no demon-knights in view when they got up here.

So Dante went through his list of movie-style strategies and tricks but couldn't come up with anything feasible for several seconds.

Then he got an idea.

Putting strength into his left foot, Dante kicked off the ground and jumped the distance between him and Nero Angelo, who apparently hadn't been expecting another direct attack.

Dante bent his knees and prepared a special stance.

"Get ready."

Then his right hand rammed upwards and Dante flew into the air, sending Angelo's sword flying from even _his _grip.

"Rising Dragon!"

Though Dante could have directly hurt Nero Angelo with the attack, his intention was to buy time, not do damage.

So he found two of the things he was looking for and kicked down towards them and picked up Agni & Rudra, then turned his sights on the three weapons which lay on the ground far away.

Just as his front foot moved towards them however, Nero Angelo once again got in his way, fully-armed.

"Damn!" Dante cursed inside his head while trying to wonder what to do.

"_**Enough of this already.**_"

Suddenly hundreds of those phantom swords appeared behind Angelo and tilted upwards to aim right at Dante.

"Great." He thought while getting ready to run away.

Just as the swords started to move in his direction, however, a blue flash with a strange-looking hand came darting through their path and drew their attention.

"Not a bad team at all." Dante thought, grateful to Haji for playing the role of decoy.

It was then though that Dante remembered Nero Angelo hadn't moved an inch, only his summoned swords were going out to attack Haji.

"Yeah, right. Vergil was always strategizing and stuff, only makes sense this demon guy wouldn't fall for any tricks that _Vergil _wouldn't."

Haji, seeming to realize this, turned back towards Dante and Angelo and ducked under the swords as he ran towards the demon knight.

Unfortunately for him, every time a sword sailed off towards its target, another two appeared in its place; so it got harder and harder to dodge them the closer he got to Angelo.

Just as Haji came within reach of his enemy the massive sword swung out and almost cut his head clean off, instead cutting the ribbon that had tied his hair together while he jumped back.

A summoned-sword was there waiting for him and pierced Haji through his chest.

However, he pulled the offending object out of him and then ran forward again, this time using the spectral sword to block Nero Angelo's attack before tackling him; not knocking his enemy to the ground but pushing them several yards away and out of reach of both Dante and his objective.

Dante didn't waste any time running over to the last remaining weapons and snatching them up.

Once again using Cerberus as a kind of core, he froze Rebellion, Force Edge, Agni & Rudra and all the different parts of Beowulf to it and turned towards Nero Angelo, who had once again knocked Haji away.

This time however, he'd managed to stay conscious and merely watched as Dante took the "stage".

Nero Angelo refocused his attention on Dante, eyeing his combo-weapon with slight interest before running towards him and hitting his weapon before flipping up into the air.

Dante followed and twirled his "super-combo" around.

"You can thank that second Final Fantasy movie for _this _one!" Dante spoke loudly as the ice started to erode and fall away.

His enemy brought the sword up again but it wouldn't help him this time.

He threw all the weapons out, the ice shattering as they did so, and suddenly Angelo was surrounded by the weapons.

Dante continued upwards, his ability to stay in the air greatly increased by his devil trigger, and grabbed Rebellion; heading for Nero Angelo's side.

The sword sliced through the demon-armor and Dante grabbed another one, this time Agni.

He attacked again, a large fragment of Angelo's armor chopped off in the process.

In the next six seconds he'd performed just as many attacks and had knocked huge chunks of the armor off with each strike.

Force Edge hovered above Nero Angelo's head and Dante leapt up to it and grabbed the hilt, slamming the thing down through the helm and into the ground below.

As Dante landed, so did the other weapons, though they landed in the stone, all sticking out of it like some kind of sacred circle.

"Dante-slash level five!" He spoke with a toothy grin and a thumbs-up.

Nero Angelo crashed into a nearby building but his massive sword sailed down through the air before impaling itself in the stone.

Suddenly it began cracking and pieces started to fall from it, slowly revealing the original blade as the seemingly-organic outer "coating" disappeared.

When the process was finished a sword Dante had never seen before with a white blade was stuck there, shining in the sun.

He vaguely noticed Haji walk up behind him and turned towards the man.

His injuries had been healed, though the ribbon could not be repaired so his hair was still out.

"Did we defeat him?" Haji asked in a rare conversation-starter.

Dante bit his lip a bit before shrugging.

"Well, that weird stuff on the sword fell away and disappeared. Maybe that means whatever took hold of him is gone to. Like that Venom guy from Spider Man. And after that fancy of a finishing move he's practically _obligated _to stay down anyway."

He heard a strange sound come from behind him and wondered if it was Diva when he recognized the noise as something that belonged to Lady's missile launcher; Kalina Ann.

It could shoot some kind of grappling hook or something that she used to climb tall places.

And if she was both leaving the sewers and had enough time to slowly get up here that must mean they'd beaten Diva.

"Huh. I wonder how they managed to stop her. Maybe Saya just brought a really big lollipop with her on the trip." Dante wondered as he turned towards the hole and took a few big steps before reaching down into the hole and grabbing someone's forearm and pulling them out of the tunnel.

Saya, the person he'd helped out of the hole, thanked him quietly as she got all the way up and Dante wondered what was eating her as he helped Lady up too.

"So, you two win?" He asked bluntly.

Lady looked at him, a much more subdued expression on her face than he'd seen her have since…well, Temen-ni-gru.

"Yeah. We won."

Despite the depressing atmosphere they were exhibiting he congratulated them loudly and with a hearty slap on the back.

Though she would usually punch him in the gut for doing such a thing Lady just looked around and noticed that Nero Angelo wasn't here anymore.

"Did you-"

"-kick his ass? Of course."

She nodded, not really seeming to take it in.

Dante slapped his sides hard.

"Well what's with the gloominess? I mean, we won and no one got killed. Why am I the only one who's happy here?"

They didn't respond.

His smile faded.

"Oh…you don't mean that she-"

"_Dante!!_" A voice interrupted him from where Nero Angelo had crashed.

All he could think was "great" as the building exploded and his brother, still partially clad in the armor, stormed out.

He tore the helm off his head and whipped it in a random direction.

The cape had fallen off as well and all that remained completely intact were the pauldrons and the sabatons or boots.

All of the rest of it had been sliced off during Dante's finishing attack which apparently hadn't "finished" _anything_.

Luckily for everyone his pants hadn't been dissolved while he was in the armor so there wasn't an angry half-crazy streaker glaring at him.

Yamato had somehow made its way back into his hands, though the sheath was nowhere to be seen.

His head, though it still had the same shape and composition, seemed dry and his hair was more messed up than it usually was.

His eyes also seemed to be different, his pale blue original eye color fighting with the yellow pupils of the demon version.

"_It's not over yet!_" He yelled while approaching his brother.

Dante luckily hadn't let go of Force Edge the whole time so he still had a weapon to fight with.

Vergil's gaze snapped from him to Saya, to Haji, to Lady, to the scenery and back to Dante again, never going in the same order. Evidently his sanity hadn't returned in force.

"_Where did she go?!_"

He was honestly befuddled at Vergil's question.

"Huh?"

Vergil stamped forward, unintentionally making a small crater in the ground in the process.

"_Don't mess with me! _Her_! I remember her being here! She joined you didn't she?! I should have _known _she would! You're all the same!_" He spat, trailing off.

Dante looked at the ground.

He didn't want to tell Vergil what had happened… but-

"She's dead." He spoke up, looking into Vergil's crazed eyes.

"She died trying to get to you."

The anger faded from his face momentarily as Vergil took in the words.

* * *

"_Dead? But she _can't _be dead._" He spoke to himself while looking at the ground.

"**It's **_**their **_**fault! One of **_**them **_**killed her! Kill them all! There's no way to tell which one of them did it. Kill them!**"

Vergil shook his head, trying to clear it.

"_She tried to _help _me? That's not what you said. You said she turned on me and that she was my _enemy_._" He spoke while pacing back and forth.

"**She **_**was**_**. She would have turned on you eventually. Everyone always does. Except for me. I'll always be here.**"

"_No. She wouldn't have turned on me. I know it._"

"**Yes. She would have.**"

"_No!_"

His whole body felt filled with power, but he couldn't even tell what the _truth _was.

"**Even if she **_**wouldn't **_**have…one of **_**them **_**killed her.**"

Vergil stopped pacing and glared at all of them.

"_Which one of you did it?! Which one?!_" He yelled at them while pointing Yamato at them like an accusing finger.

Two of them started to step forward but the one that sort of looked like Diva-

Saya! Yes! Yes, that was her name!

She stepped forward and looked straight into his eyes, something he knew she had a hard time doing.

"I did."

He nodded more times than other people would have that were required and then stabbed Yamato down into the ground and glared at it, dragging the thing through the ground until there was a eleven-foot-long crack in it.

Those other….._things _looked at the crack and him like he was crazy.

"**No. Not you. **_**They're **_**the insane ones.**"

Vergil pierced Yamato somewhere else nearby and then stuck his hands in the crack and pulled it apart; revealing fleshy-walls crawling with skinned humans who stretched out with slimy and bloody hands towards everyone.

The red light that shot up through the chasm split the clouds and turned them as black as if it were night-time. And within a few moments, for all intents and purposes, it was.

A ridiculously loud bang of thunder sounded out and rain started coming down from the unnaturally-dark skies.

In a minute the others realized that it was not raining water but _blood_.

Though it was dark everything glowed with the red light and he smirked out of satisfaction at how much his hate could produce.

Vergil then pulled Yamato out of the ground and stared at the area with his furious eyes glazed over with madness..

"_You _all _have __to die. You all _will _die! No one can withstand my rage! No! Not you! Or you! Or you either!_" Vergil yelled again at all of them in turn before spinning around, his eyes blue in the middle but yellow everywhere else.

"_Nothing can overcome my wrath! You'll all die!_"

* * *

I hope I did a decent job making Vergil sound crazy. Oh, and this is the third-last chapter as well. The next one will be very long compared to the mostly-short entries I was giving until recently so it may take a bit to do.


	67. Last Encounter

"He's gone off the deep end." Dante thought to himself as he gazed at his crazed brother.

Originally he had hoped that when the Nero Angelo persona thing was forced from him he'd return to normal, but apparently part of it was still left.

"Which means…" He thought while gripping the hilt of Force Edge tighter.

He would have to _kill _Vergil.

"I don't want to, but I know he wouldn't want to be messed up like this. He'd rather be dead than twisted."

That's what Dante told himself at least as Vergil singled him out and his smirk widened.

"He's coming!" Dante yelled as the red look of the area was briefly contrasted by a blue flash and he brought up Force Edge just in time to block Vergil's slash.

Still, he was sent plummeting backwards simply by the force behind the attack and collided with a building wall before landing again.

Vergil was already near him and stabbed towards his stomach. Dante twisted just slightly out of the way and allowed the katana to impale itself in the wall. Then he rolled back, trying to pull Yamato from Vergil's grip and leave him weaponless.

Unfortunately though it didn't work and Vergil kicked him in the abdomen, once again knocking him far away and wrecking a building with his body.

Saya ran at the crazy man and struck out with her sword but he grabbed the blade with a hand and ran her through with Yamato.

"Saya!" Haji yelled as he dashed over to the two of them and attempted to hit Vergil with his transformed hand.

Knowing he would react this way, Vergil spun and threw Saya into Haji, the two colliding with an abnormally-loud thud and then falling to the ground.

Dante struggled out of the rubble of the building as Vergil made his way over to Saya and raised Yamato.

Not taking the chance that he might chop her head off, Dante threw Force Edge at Vergil while simultaneously running at him.

As expected, Vergil knocked the sword back towards him without even looking away from his prey, but Dante caught the stray weapon and tackled Vergil.

He _tried_ to anyway, but Vergil's boots didn't even budge from where they stood and Dante had one hell of a pain in his shoulders as he realized he hadn't done any damage.

"Damn! What the hell's going on?! He should be _weaker_ now that the demon-armor stuff's gone! So why is he friggin' _invincible_?!" Dante thought with an equal amount of shock and frustration.

Saya and Haji still hadn't moved and Vergil's hand started to descend.

He broke off and rolled under the strike, swinging upwards with Force Edge in an attempt to knock the sword away, but instead he found himself on one knee and breaking his back just trying to keep the blade from moving.

Vergil's eyes looked on at him like a serial-killer child watching a spider killing a fly.

(Crack)

"Agh! Damn it! Come on! Get out of the way already!" He managed out with a strain.

Though not back to normal they managed to run away back behind Dante a few feet before he rolled out of the way of Vergil's strike; the force in Yamato still enough to put a crater in the age-old stone.

His body began to heal but he couldn't wait for it to get back to normal before attacking Vergil in an attempt at halting his movement.

He struck out and theree was a clanging sound, followed by his hand bleeding and Force Edge sailing through the air away from him.

Vergil's free hand jolted out and grabbed Dante by the neck, tightening its grip and pulling Dante's skin too tight for it to stay intact.

He heard his skin ripping as he grunted in pain and tried to pull the hand away futily.

A claw and a sword came down on the arm, Haji's and Saya's surprise attacks, but they didn't even cut Vergil's bare skin.

The fingers started to puncture his neck before the hand tossed him over near the sewer-hole.

Choking on the blood in his neck, Dante noticed Saya and Haji retreat and reposition themselves in front of him, at the ready.

"It doesn't matter; there could be _ten _of _each _of us and it _still _wouldn't be enough." Dante mumbled to himself anxiously.

Vergil hadn't released his hold on Dante's neck because anyone had harmed him; he'd done so because he'd gotten _bored_.

"_H__**a! **__W__**h**__a__**t's w**__r__**on**__g?__**! **__Ne__**ed **__to __**tak**__e __**a **__**b**__re__**at**__her__**?**_"

Dante ignored the taunt as he looked over at Lady and saw that she was shooting at something in the crevice Vergil had opened up.

"Great, now on top of everything we've got skinned zombie-guys behind door number two." He complained to himself while struggling to get up.

"Come on, damnit! There has to be something I can do!" He yelled inside his head.

His weapons were way to far away for him to make it to them, and even if he could they wouldn't help much.

"Dante." Haji probed quietly.

"What should we do?" Saya asked him in case he hadn't understood Haji's "audio signal".

He kept looking around for something to use but even if he chopped that big tower in half and dropped it on Vergil's head Dante doubted it would do much.

"It looks like I've got no choice." Dante thought morbidly as his gaze turned towards the dagger which, despite how everything around them had turned into a living hell, was still silently and sturdily embedded in the ground.

"Can you two distract him for a few seconds? I got a plan but I can't do it if he knows what I'm up to." He spoke under his breath so only they would hear him.

Both nodded and Dante got to his feet.

A few seconds passed as Vergil gazed at them with those crazy eyes and the tension built up into a brick block in his brain.

The brick shattered.

"Go!" He yelled while stamping into the ground to give his steps more power.

Saya and Haji could be heard running towards Vergil but he didn't know how well they were doing since his eyes wouldn't budge from looking at the dagger; as if steering away meant the vital object would flee.

He heard Haji grunt and then another building collapsing after being hit by a human projectile, with a similar instance following with Saya only a second later.

It didn't matter though because Dante was almost there.

He dove for the delicate-looking but infinitely-powerful little weapon and took hold of its hilt-

-before being hit from behind and launched half-a-mile away into the huge tower.

* * *

Saya couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Dante reach the dagger and take hold of it, and then getting struck so far away that he collided with Diva's tower.

"Dante!" She yelled while getting up and wondering if he was still alive.

She knew first-hand that he could survive just about anything. But that attack had been so powerful she doubted a _warship_ could retain its shape after getting hit by it.

"_Th__**is is **__t__**he **__end__**!**_" The mad half-demon yelled out loud before aiming his sword at the crumbling tower and making gigantic black orbs appear in it several times, disintegrating whatever they touched.

Purple lightning struck from above and a loud crack of thunder sounded before a massive orb larger than the tower itself descended from the sky and made everything in its path disappear like some kind of black hole.

The tower was gone, the walls surrounding it were gone, the ground, clouds…everything near the tower had all vanished when the "black hole" disappeared.

No one moved or made a sound as they all gazed at the crater of emptiness where Diva's tower used to be.

Then the silence was interrupted by Vergil's crazed laughter as he turned his gaze back towards Saya.

"I'm going to die." She thought as he dissolved and then teleported over to her, the sword already raised.

"_**C**__ra_**s**h_**!**_"

The sword descended and she closed her eyes as the wind parted to allow the blade to slice her in two.

But a strange thing happened.

She didn't feel herself get bisected or even _cut_.

Curious and confused at what had happened she opened her eyes, and saw a long coat of red in front of her.

"_**W**__- __**wh**__at__**?**__!_" Vergil spoke, apparently as shocked as she was at how Dante had not only survived that ridiculously powerful series of attacks, but at how he had closed the huge distance between them in only a few seconds.

"Heh. You're not the _only _one with a trick up his sleeve." Dante proclaimed as he pushed Vergil away.

Saya could just barely see part of the dagger in Dante's hand and wondered just how much power was in that frail-looking thing.

"This is that power thing you wanted so much. To be honest I think it looks rather good on me." He commented confidently.

"_N__**o! **__N__**oth**__ing ca__**n **__st__**o**__p my __**hat**__e__**!**_" Vergil yelled before striking at Dante.

However, he blocked the deadly attack again with that tiny dagger and moved past Vergil's sword, cutting at his chest as he did so.

Saya blinked and the wound was gone but she knew that Vergil must be surprised that he could be hurt at _all_ as he was now.

They separated and Dante told her to step away from them.

She nodded and backed up a few steps before turning to run away, and feeling Yamato slicing its way through the back of her shirt.

Before the blade could reach her skin, however, it ceased its arc and she stumbled away dumbly before rearing around and gazing at the fight.

Though at a glance Dante and his tiny dagger seemed no match for Vergil and his full-length katana, he was holding his own and every time Vergil made a strike he parried and threw one of his own.

Vergil slashed horizontally at Dante, who jumped up in the air and dodged the attack, instead the blade cutting a pillar in half.

Dante landed and stabbed forward, crossing a ridiculous distance between them unrealistically quickly and puncturing Vergil's chest.

The half-demon didn't seem to notice and swung at Dante again, who rolled out of the way.

Though they were pretty much evenly matched in abilities, Vergil's insane state and Dante's speed was quickly turning the battle in Dante's favor.

Vergil scoffed and then a bolt of blue lightning crashed into him on the ground and his appearance resembled that of a humanoid demon, though significantly different and more organic-looking than his armored state had.

Dante did likewise and then they disappeared; flashes of white bursting here and there every few seconds.

Saya wondered what was going on for a few seconds before she realized that they were moving too quickly for her to see.

"They're so powerful." She wondered in awe while holding onto her own sword, feeling small and meek all of a sudden.

Haji walked up next to her and said that Lady needed help holding the demons back.

"Okay." She told him before glancing up at the most recent flash and running towards the hell-crevice.

"Don't you dare lose, Dante." She thought before turning away.

* * *

He literally felt like a god.

The second Dante had set a single finger on the hilt of the dagger so much power had electrified his body that he felt like he was on every drug and energy drink in the world at the same time, with some protein shakes thrown in for fun.

Not even Vergil, as powerful as he was now, seemed capable of harming Dante as long as he had this thing.

His body was moving all over the place; through the air, into trees, under water, and he didn't even tell it do so.

The whole battle felt like he was in a tiny room watching a movie play out in the first person.

Though Dante couldn't think fast enough to block Vergil's strikes, his body twisted and struck the mighty attack away before he could even realize what was going on.

"Forget booze. Forget sex… hell, forget _pizza_! This dagger thing _rocks_!" He yelled internally as his body once again hit Vergil's attack away and counter-attacked.

A few seconds later, when Dante was fairly sure he could keep up; he tried to move his body on its own.

Bad idea.

He'd swung his arm upwards in an attempt to strike through Vergil's chest but had done so too quickly that when Yamato came up swinging again his dagger-arm was already raised too high to be used.

Vergil's eyes blazed and he struck Dante down through the air and into the ground below.

Strangely enough, it hadn't hurt. Though an _airplane _would have been broken to tiny pieces by the impact, he'd only felt a slight tickle on his spine.

Just as he was going to gloat, however, he felt something torn from his hand; the dagger.

Now again paying attention to what was going on, Dante saw that Vergil had reached out and pulled the dagger from his grip; the hand which held it now clenched tight.

"Oh…_dear_." He spoke worriedly while backing away from Vergil.

The space around him erupted with blue electricity and dissolved the stone tiles underneath his feet.

His mad eyes were now rolled up in their sockets and the bare parts of his body that could be be seen had oversized veins running through them and pumping so much power into him that he actually gasped.

Dante waited for the area to simply explode, but surprisingly, Vergil didn't move.

He stood there, in bliss, clenching the dagger in his fist so hard blood was falling to the ground.

Dante's eyes remained widened for a few seconds before he realized what had happened; Vergil had become _too _powerful.

Whatever had happened to him beforehand had already made him capable of taking the whole world on with a single pinky, and when he got hold of that dagger he must have put too much energy into the space around him and frozen _time_ or something.

Dante didn't know the details but what he _did _know was that this was the only chance he would get.

He looked around for a weapon to use but they were all too far away. Only Saya, Haji and Lady were nearby and nothing they had could do any-

"Worth a shot." He mumbled to himself while turning towards Saya and calling out to her.

"Hey, throw me your sword!"

She saw him and realized what the situation was and threw it to him, but only after cutting her hand along the length of the blade.

He didn't know why she'd done so until he caught it and almost dropped the blade.

Vergil was going to die…

Dante couldn't move for a second, couldn't even _think _until he heard Vergil's strangely strained voice speak to him in a tone he'd never heard.

"_**DEAD! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BE DEAD!!**_"

He looked up again at his brother and knew that this was the end.

"No. _You're _the only one that's going to die." He spoke while aiming the bloodied sword at Vergil, who erupted in mad laughter.

"_**AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH **_**THAT**_**?! CARVE YOUR INITIALS INTO THE GROUND?!"**_

Dante shook his head.

"No. I'm going to kill you with it."

Vergil started laughing again before he was interrupted by Dante.

"Saya's blood kills anything that it hits which has Diva's blood in it. You fall into that category."

"_**DON'T MAKE ME **_**LAUGH**_**! I'M TOO POWERFUL TO BE AFFECTED BY THAT NOW!**_"

Dante nodded a bit.

"Maybe. But…" He dragged his own hand across the blade and spread his _own _blood on it as well.

"…you aren't too strong for _this_."

The eyes erupted in fear and Vergil tried to move, but his body wouldn't comply.

"You got what you wanted, Vergil. You became the most powerful thing in the whole damn universe. But the world can't _handle _that much power and neither can you. So your body won't move. All you can do is stand there, in all your greatness, and wait helplessly to die. How ironic." He spoke morbidly in a rare moment of critical analysis.

Dante reared back the blade and then ran towards Vergil.

The tip of the blade seemed to scream its own warcry as it punctured through the air and headed for his heart.

It penetrated something and blood spilled out across the ground.

A second later, something could be heard hardening; like ice rapidly freezing itself, or someone's body being turned to stone.

* * *

Despite the way this sounds there _is _still another chapter left. Also sorry for taking this long to update. I finally had the nerve to watch episode 49 in Blood+ and felt bad all day afterwards so it kind of interfered with this. The last chapter should be coming soon.


	68. The Devil's Cry

There wasn't a single person there whose eyes weren't wide in surprise; and that includes both Dante and Vergil.

Dante withdrew the sword and dropped it on the ground, letting it clatter for a second before taking a step back himself.

At the same time, Vergil's eyes returned to normal and he dropped both Yamato and the dagger.

His chest, un-punctured, stopped his heart from beating for a second as he himself fell to his knees, holding onto….

"Diva?" He spoke in an unbelieving, saddened tone.

The sound continued as she looked up to him, a sad smile on her face.

Through the holes in her dress her skin could be seen crystallizing but she didn't seem to notice it.

She brushed a bang that had fallen from Vergil's hair out of his face as his eyes began showing the first signs of panic.

"You!...What did you-" She cut him off by putting a finger on his lips.

"You're back." She spoke, as if confirming something to herself.

Her fingertips began hardening themselves and he pulled her hand away from his mouth to look at it, before snapping his gaze back to her face.

"Why did you _do that_?!" He yelled, his tone filled with only sorrow.

Her smile widened slightly.

"Why? You're so dense." She spoke, too worn out to be amused.

"What?" He asked her again, shaking his head as if to deny what was happening.

"I love you, of course." Her voice spoke with fading strength

Her collar bone turned to silver glass and he pulled her closer.

"But…you shouldn't have…" He stopped speaking, tears falling from his face onto hers.

Her lips moved, trying to speak, but her lungs were failing.

"I…" Her eyes gazed up at him, no hint of sadness in them anymore.

"I'm…happy." Diva finally said before her eyes glazed over and her hair began turning to onyx.

"No! Don't die damnit!" He shrieked, oblivious to everyone else around him.

The sound ceased and his face tightened, his lower lip fighting against twitching.

His eyes widened and then his head fell down, covering hers with his.

"I'm…sorry." He spoke before the head rose and his gaze crept over to peer down at the dagger, which had been touched by the tiny pool of Saya's blood..

"But…I can't…"

His left hand reached out towards the hilt and grasped onto it.

He didn't feel any of the infinite power that surged through his body.

Vergil looked back down at Diva's frozen but still-smiling face and then back at the dagger.

"I can't let _you _pay for what _I _did."

His eyes closed.

"Forgive me."

He stabbed the blade into his neck.

Vergil grunted in pain as everyone looked on in shock.

He shook his head to fight the pain and broke off the blade, still stuck in his neck, and threw the hilt away, pulling Diva's hard body up to him.

"I'm not going to let you go."

He pulled Diva's mouth into his neck until her teeth punctured it.

His eyes showed his pain but he didn't let her go, even as his body became paler and weaker.

Eventually, his strength faded away and Vergil couldn't even sit up anymore.

"It doesn't matter." He thought as he felt his own body begin to turn to glass.

The world turned white and for a second he thought he really_ had_ gone to a heaven.

But then he blinked and the world looked the same as before, and the sky had cleared, the clouds having disappeared and the red tint to the atmosphere gone.

With that the cold, hard feeling had vanished as well and he wondered what had happened as his gaze went back down to look at Diva's face…

His eyes met two normal, blinking orbs and a curious, unfrozen expression.

Her head tilted right, then left, and then back towards him.

"Diva?" He asked in disbelief.

Then he was tackled backwards by the living girl and she hugged him as they landed.

"What'd you doooo?" She asked gleefully.

Vergil's own eyes blinked in confusion.

"I…I don't know."

An annoying laugh snapped him out of his stupor and he looked up at Dante for what felt like the first time since he jumped off that cliff.

"Sure ya do! You jabbed yourself with that super-magic-dagger-thingy and then made her drink from your neck! With an overt tone of dramatics if I may add; a real bleeding heart."

"Shut up." He told Dante while sitting up, Diva still happily clinging to his body.

"Really? You did that for me?"

He looked away, fighting against his increasingly blushing expression.

"No. Of course not. He's- he's lying."

Diva giggled happily and his head snapped back to face her.

"Stop that immediately! Stop giggling!"

She laughed even harder and got off him.

"I win!" She declared, confusing everyone in the process; including Vergil, who was now getting to his feet as well.

"How do you figure?" He asked somewhat dumbly.

"I saved you and then came back! I rule!"

"You _died_. And I_ saved_ you." He spoke before getting jabbed in the gut as she turned back towards him.

"I've had worse." She spoke, carefree.

"You lie." He choked while holding his stomach.

"Come on you pansy." Dante added, breaking their "duo".

Both looked at him and he backed up a step.

"Aw, come on. I didn't want to be left out."

Diva laughed again and Vergil stood up, holding Yamato in his hands now.

Saya picked up her sword as Dante walked over to them with Force Edge in his hands.

Everyone conversed in a circle and Dante's eyebrows moved upwards.

"Happy ending?" He asked.

"Happy ending!" Diva declared.

Everyone was smiling now, even Vergil and Haji managing a somewhat-scary attempt at a grin.

"By the way…" Lady added as she shot over Dante's shoulder; the bullet flying through a hell pride and showing the crevice hadn't completely closed yet.

"It looks like…we're going to be busy for a while."

Everyone held a weapon now and Vergil and Dante looked around before looking at each other and nodding.

"Well bring it on!" They both declared.

"We love this! This is what we _live_ for!" Dante tossed Ebony to Vergil, who snatched it out of the air before everyone performed a melodramatic pose.

"We're absolutely _crazy _about it!"

* * *

And like that my first fanfiction here's finished. It took a while but I really liked writing this story and I'm glad if I could give everyone something fun to do for a while. Thanks to everyone who's read this story and I hope you liked the ending. I know I did. ha.


	69. Sequel

There is a sequel to this story titled "When the Devil dies, the Diva cries". It is different than this one, but not a completely seperate story. If you still like the idea of this story, feel free to check out the next one. Thanks for reading all of this story. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.


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